Victoria has reached 40 consecutive days without a new COVID-19 case.
There were no new cases acquired locally or overseas and no COVID-19 deaths in the previous 24 hours, with 11,578 test results received, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services said on Wednesday.
However Victoria’s clean sheet may be tested this week by the reopening of its hotel quarantine program, with up to 1120 international arrivals scheduled each week.
There are 281 international arrivals quarantining in Melbourne.
Of those returned travellers, 20 are quarantining in so-called “health hotels” with six showing COVID symptoms.
A further eight flights are scheduled to land at Melbourne airport on Wednesday via Auckland, Hong Kong, Brunei, Singapore, Doha, Taipei and Abu Dhabi, with a total of 127 travellers to go into quarantine.
Authorities are awaiting the test results of at least half a dozen symptomatic international arrivals who have landed in Melbourne in the past 48 hours.
Tweet from @VicGovDHHS
The state has not accepted international flights since the end of June, when quarantine hotel outbreaks sparked its deadly second virus wave.
It received 235 arrivals from Colombo, Doha, Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore and Tokyo on Monday.
The resumption of international arrivals coincided with the revelation that another international traveller evaded hotel quarantine in Sydney and flew to Melbourne in July.
Meanwhile, the Victorian government has rejected calls to waive an estimated $3 million in COVID-19 fines handed to thousands of teenagers, despite many coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The COVID-19 Fines Community Lawyer Working Group, a coalition of 10 community legal centres, estimates at least 2000 children aged 14 to 17 have been fined in Victoria for coronavirus breaches during the pandemic.
-with AAP
.jpg?w=600)
