Victoria’s deadliest day: State records 7 more Covid-19 deaths in aged care

Victoria has recorded a record number of deaths related to Covid-19 overnight, as Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed that seven aged care residents have sadly passed away since he delivered his last daily update on Thursday.

Speaking on Friday morning, Andrews confirmed that three people in their 90s and four in their 80s died as a result of the virus, however he was unable to confirm any further details relating to the deceased other than the fact that five of the deaths were linked to aged care. A total of 56 people have now passed away as a result of Covid-19 in Victoria.

“Our best wishes, our condolences, our thoughts and our prayers to the families of those six individuals,” Andrews said.

The state has also recorded a daily increase of 300 cases, 51 of which are connected to known outbreaks, while 249 are currently under investigation by the government’s public health department. In addition, 206 Victorians are in hopsital, with 41 of those people receiving intensive care.

Andrews said he was pleased with the number of tests carried out over the past 24 hours, revealed that a total of 24,118 tests took place yesterday. The premier also confirmed that 28 teams of Australian Defence Force personnel would be deployed to carry out door-to-door checks on anyone who does not answer the phone to contact tracing staff.

“So, today’s cases, 300 cases, each of those people, attempts will be made to contact those within the next 24 hours. Many of them will be contacted much sooner than that, but the aim is to have every single one of them contacted within 24 hours,” he said.

“That is not always possible, principally because some people won’t answer the phone, some people, a much smaller number, may answer the phone but are not particularly interested in making a time to sit down and go through that longer process to be interviewed about all the close contact.”

It was also confirmed on Friday morning that New South Wales had recorded a daily increase of seven cases. That news comes after Queensland declared an additional Covid hotspot yesterday, with anyone who has been in the City of Fairfield, in Sydney, in the past 14 days now barred from entering the Sunshine State.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is also expected to deliver an update this afternoon, following the most recent meeting of the National Cabinet.

This article has been updated in light of new information released as of 4pm July 24.