CANBERRA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said on Friday that a continuing rise in the number of people in hospital and in intensive care due to COVID-19 infection is very concerning.
As at midday on Friday, a total of 8,066 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Australia, including 104 deaths. The number of news cases in the past 24 hours was 66 and all of them were in Victoria, according to Kidd in the daily update.
He said 27 people are now in hospital across the country with COVID-19 including seven people in intensive care. While on Thursday, there were 24 people in hospital with five in intensive care units.
"So we are seeing a continuing rise in the number of people in hospital and in intensive care. And this is very concerning and reinforces the very serious risks of COVID-19, especially to older people and people with serious chronic disease," said Kidd.
The Victorian government has announced targeted restrictions for a number of Melbourne suburbs in 10 postcodes that have experienced a spike in positive COVID-19 cases.
From Thursday, people who live in these restricted postcodes are only allowed to go out for four reasons: shopping for food and supplies, medical care and caregiving, exercise and study or work if unable to work or study from home.
"I want to especially thank those people in Melbourne who have found themselves back in lockdown over the last two days," said Kidd.
"Please know that the rest of our country supports you and we are grateful for you for doing all you can to stop the spread of COVID-19."
It is the 17th consecutive day of double-digit case growth in Victoria, "with a continuing and concerning number of new cases associated with transmission in households and families."
"There have been 363 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Victoria that have been acquired through an unknown source. There are currently 442 active cases in Victoria," said a media release from the Department of Health and Human Services in Victoria on Friday.
The Victorian government on Friday revealed that more than 10,000 people have refused tests, with some citing conspiracy theories as their reason for refusing.
"The single source of information and truth that I would recommend to people is the health.gov.au website," said Kidd.
"Don't listen to the theories that you may be coming across on social media." Enditem
