The Australian state of Victoria registered a record 288 new coronavirus cases on Thursday — the highest any Australian state has reported in a single day since the pandemic began, the state’s Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Friday.
The vast majority of the new cases have not yet been traced, Andrews said at a press briefing.
Speaking at the same event, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the latest rise is a “very ugly number” and warned that “we will get worse numbers to follow.”
“Our numbers are the numbers that the US gets every ten minutes, so we are still in a fortunate position and we have gone into this lockdown in order to prevent us from those sorts of pressures,” Sutton added.
Premier Daniel Andrews also advised Victorians, particularly those in Melbourne, to wear masks whenever they are outside and maintain social distance.
“It is our request, it is not compulsory,” Andrews said. “If you can wear a mask when you can’t distance, that’s what you should do”.
CNN