CANBERRA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Australia has recorded its first day with zero COVID-19 deaths since mid-September.
As of Monday afternoon, Australia's coronavirus death toll remained at 894.
It is the first time that the death toll has not risen since Sept. 15 and only the second time since July 13, at which time there had been 108 deaths from the virus in Australia.
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia rose to 27,149 on Monday, and the number of new cases in the last 24 hours is 11, according to the latest figures from Australian Government Department of Health.
Victoria, the hardest-hit state by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, reported nine new cases and New South Wales confirmed one new case in a recently returned traveler in hotel quarantine.
Victoria now accounts for about 74.4 percent of Australia's coronavirus cases and 90.1 percent of deaths.
As the second wave of infections in Victoria subsides, Michael Gunner, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, on Monday said that the territory's borders could be opened to travellers from regional Victoria as early as Nov. 2.
Gunner, who previously said that borders could remain closed until 2022, said that Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria, was "on the cusp" of controlling the pandemic.
"The average number of cases diagnosed in the last 14 days for metropolitan Melbourne is 11.6 and regional Victoria is 0.3," said a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services in Victoria on Monday. Enditem
