Australia’s hard-hit Victoria state reported a record 484 new coronavirus patients on Wednesday and health authorities warned that numbers could continue to rise. With Australia’s second-largest city Melbourne now in lockdown for two weeks, authorities had hoped the infection rate would begin to plateau. Neighoring New South Wales state reported 16 new cases on Wednesday. The origins of the strains of the virus that infected the 15 were Victoria, New South Wales Chief Health officer Kerry Chant said. Queensland state reported one new case, a returned traveler who was diagnosed in quarantine.-AP

Source: The Standard July 22, 2020 04:46 UTC