14 people succumb to COVID-19 in Australia

A Victorian man in his 20s has become the youngest person to succumb to COVID-19 in Australia, as 14 new coronavirus deaths were reported in the country, taking the national toll to 375, while the number of infections has gone up to 22,744.

A Victorian man in his 20s has become the youngest person to succumb to COVID-19 in Australia, as 14 new coronavirus deaths were reported in the country, taking the national toll to 375, while the number of infections has gone up to 22,744. Victoria, which saw just under 300 fresh cases for the first time in more than three weeks, recorded a jump in its new infections which touched 372 in the last 24 hours.

Confirming the daily deaths and new cases, State premier Daniel Andrews said, "it was fair to assume the man in his 20s was the youngest person who has died of COVID-19 in the country.'' "We are very saddened by that," he said, adding that the State Coroner may look into the victim's death. Andrews said the 12 of the 14 deaths were connected to aged care outbreaks and of those who died included three women and two men in their 80s, and four women and four men in their 90s.

Andrews said there were now a total of 3,119 "mystery" cases with an unknown source and 7,842 active cases across the State. Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said Melbourne appeared to have "turned the corner" with masks and social restrictions of Stage 4 in Metro Melbourne and Mitchell Shire and stage 3 in regional parts of the State currentlly in place.

"It's going in the right direction. I'm very confident we've seen the peak. But it's got to come down quickly," he said. Stating that the growing number of mystery cases was a major concern, Sutton said, "We’ve seen a significant increase in the so-called mystery cases or cases of unknown acquisition." He urged the Victorians to continue adhering to the restrictions.

"I'm confident we’ve seen the peak but it’s got to come down quickly," Sutton said. Meanwhile, nine new cases were recorded in New South Wales (NSW), three in Queensland and 1 each in Western Australia and South Australia.

Health authorities in NSW confirmed nine new coronavirus infections in the 24 hours including three of those in hotel quarantine. Queensland recorded three new cases of COVID-19 after four days of no new infections while one of the cases was identified as a returned traveller from Sydney who is currently in hotel quarantine.

In South Australia, a man in his 30s who arrived on a repatriation flight from India tested positive on his 12th day in quarantine. In Western Australia, a 39-year-old man who recently returned from overseas was diagnosed with the virus. Australian Capital Territory reported no new cases or any active cases in the State since last 24 hours.

National death toll now stood at 375 while the total number of cases climbed to 22,744..