Australia has passed a sobering milestone in its battle against COVID-19, with more than 8000 people now having contracted the virus since it broke out.
It comes after 86 new cases were confirmed over the last 24 hours, 77 of which have come out of Victoria.
No cases were confirmed in WA.
The outbreak has seen 18 people admitted to hospital and three to intensive care.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd told Victorians to buckle down during the reimposed lockdown as the country watched on.
“All of Australia is following and supporting you at this time,” he said.
“There are many challenges of going back into lockdown, but we have experienced this before, we have established our own ways to cope so please remember the things that you learned the first time we were in lockdown.”
Dr Kidd said it was concerning to see Australian returning to ICUs amid the latest outbreak.
“This is very concerning and is a reminder to all of us about how serious COVID-19 can be, especially for older people, especially for people who are immune-compromised or people with serious chronic medical conditions,” he said.
“This is why we are, we need to be so vigilant in our response to COVID-19 to prevent continuing hospitalisations, people getting very, very unwell.”
Of those diagnosed, more than 7000 have recovered from coronavirus.
