Geelong’s active cases drop amid massive decline state-wide

Geelong’s active COVID-19 cases have dropped by 33 despite the city recording 12 new cases yesterday.

Greater Geelong had 335 cases since the pandemic began, as of midnight yesterday, compared to 323 the day before, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

But active cases dropped from 151 to 118 during the same 24 hours.

A sixth resident at Opal South Valley aged care died at home on Sunday night, bringing the total number of Geelong residents who have died from COVID-19 to seven.

A total of 31 Opal residents, including the six who died, and 18 staff have tested positive for COVID-19.

Colac Otway Shire had 15 active cases as of midnight yesterday, 21 less than the previous day.

Surf Coast Shire’s active cases dropped from six to four while Golden Plains Shire’s dropped from three to one.

The department has so far linked 83 cases to an outbreak at Colac’s Australian Lamb Company abattoir and 53 to an outbreak at Golden Farms Poultry in Breakwater.

Victoria recorded 240 new COVID-19 cases with three reclassified, largely due to duplication, increasing the total by 237 to 17,683.

But active cases have declined dramatically across Victoria by 2291, from 7155 to 4864.

“The active cases number has declined significantly today to account for cases cleared over the past five days, supported by additional capacity,” the department said in a statement.

“This coincides with a high number of cases in the past two to three weeks who are starting to recover.

“The public health team anticipate that if the current trend of slower growth in new cases continues, then the active case number will continue to decline rapidly.”

Another 13 Victorians, including eight aged-care residents, have died from COVID-19 bringing the state’s death toll to 376.

The deaths included a man in his 70s, six women in their 80s, five women in their 90s and a man in his 90s.

Of the new cases, 101 are linked to outbreaks or complex cases, and 139 are under investigation.

Of total cases, 3784 indicate unknown transmission.

Currently 622 Victorians are in hospital after contracting COVID-19 with 43 in intensive care, while 12,334 people have recovered.

Of the total cases, 16,277 are from metropolitan Melbourne, while 1068 are from regional Victoria.

More than 2,028,909 tests have been processed to date.