COVID-19: Australia records 423 new cases, 5 more deaths

The state Health Minister Jenny Mikakos confirmed that four children were in hospital recovering from the coronavirus and that 20 per cent of the total hospital patients were under the age of 50. She said that the data from the start of July shows "a quarter of the infections that we are seeing in our community are actually amongst young people in their 20s.

Australia has registered 423 new COVID-19 patients, including a one-year-old child, in the last 24 hours with the country’s Victoria state alone accounting for over 400 new infections and five deaths, health officials said on Thursday. New South Wales state’s Health Minister Brad Hazzard reported 19 new cases, including a toddler who attended the Goodstart early learning centre in Anna Bay and a school-aged student of Tomaree public school in Port Stephens.

Victoria recorded 403 new coronavirus cases and five deaths including that of a man in his 50s and another in his 70s who were not linked to known outbreaks, according to the state's health department. A 70-year-old woman, an 80-year-old man and a 90-year-old man, linked to an aged care facility where the outbreak had occurred, died from the virus.

Victoria's death toll stands at 49. It currently has 3,630 active cases and there are 201 people in hospital and 40 in intensive care. Warning residents of more fatalities, Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews said: “Every day there's 400 cases, and we're seeing stability but not a decline… the maths of this tells you that people will die”.

Andrews also urged the "young and healthy people" to follow the restrictions while stressing that they can also get sick or even die. “'Today's figures showed young and otherwise healthy people could be adversely affected by the disease.

“One of the terrible tragedies today is a man in his 50s, this is not just something that affects people that are frail-aged. That would be reason enough to do what we're doing, but it would be wrong to assume that young people are somehow immune to this,” Andrews said. The state Health Minister Jenny Mikakos confirmed that four children were in hospital recovering from the coronavirus and that 20 per cent of the total hospital patients were under the age of 50.

She said that the data from the start of July shows "a quarter of the infections that we are seeing in our community are actually amongst young people in their 20s. "By way of comparison, people in their 60s only represent 6 per cent of people who have been diagnosed with this virus”.

Victorians are now required to wear a mask in public and those breaching the new rule with few exceptions would face a fine of 200 Australian dollars. The federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, during his press briefing, lauded the Australians for following the social distancing rules.

"As we embark upon this new phase of the steps to protect ourselves and to protect our fellow Australians, the mandatory requirement of masks is confronting. It's difficult. But Australians and Melburnians are responding magnificently. "In NSW, what we're seeing is a stable condition. They are engaged in a massive contact tracing programme and doing it magnificently. I want to thank all of those involved. It is a situation which is being watched very carefully, but the numbers remained stable," he said.

The condition in Victoria was a "greater task". About 1,470 defence personnel are assisting Victoria with checkpoint control and isolation compliance.

"We are literally all in this together because our national success depends on Victoria's success," hunt said. Meanwhile, South Australia recorded one new case in the last 24 hours whereas Queensland, Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Western Australia reported no new cases.

The infected man in his 40s had recently returned to South Australia from Victoria and was granted an exemption to travel as an essential worker..