Before experts agree to relax restrictions safely, Victoria’s daily number of new cases must fall below 20, but this milestone may not be too far away. The authorities do not rule out extending the current lockdown period. Governor Daniel Andrews said earlier this week that there is no “magic number” that must be unblocked once the number of new cases per day is reached. The last time Victoria saw fewer than 20 new cases per day was about seven weeks ago.
However, according to epidemiologists, new cases may be quickly suppressed like a rapid rise. Some people say that it is feasible to start to relax restrictions in mid-September, although it will depend on the success of the health authorities’ epidemic prevention policies and the public’s ability to eliminate infections from unknown sources.
John Mathews, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Melbourne, said that he was not optimistic about when the restrictions would be relaxed. He believed that the new strict lockdown measures would need to last more than six weeks to reduce the number of new cases per day to levels similar to NSW.
smh.com.au/national/victoria/magic-covid-milestone-could-be-just-around-the-corner-20200811-p55kpr.html