Why the number of active COVID-19 cases fell by more than two thousand overnight

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Victoria has fallen by more than 2000 overnight.

Today, there are 4864 active cases across the state, a drop of 2291 from yesterday’s figure.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said the drop is due to a blitz to release people who were unnecessarily isolated.

“It’s not a simple process,” he said.

“A lot of work has gone in over the last couple of days to clear people from isolation so that they can go back into their normal activities.”

Before being cleared, and removed from the active case tally, people who have had COVID-19 must be interviewed by a trained health professional.

Professor Cheng said most people don’t need a second test, but for those with complicating factors, such as underlying health conditions, they require a negative swab before being cleared from isolation.

The active case drop comes as Victoria has recorded another 240 cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

Today’s figure is slightly higher than yesterday’s figure of 216 and Tuesday’s figure of 222.

But, it’s the fifth consecutive day the state has recorded new case numbers under 300.

Another 13 people, aged between their 70s and 90s, have died with COVID-19.

The new deaths bring the Victorian death toll to 376.

There are 622 Victorians in hospital with COVID-19.

Of those, 43 are in intensive care, including 28 on ventilators.

There are 3784 cases with no known source.

Of the 4864 active COVID-19 cases, 4438 are in metropolitan Melbourne and 295 are in regional Victoria.

#COVID19VicData for 20 August 2020. 240 new cases of #coronavirus (#COVID19) were detected in Victoria yesterday. Sadly we report 13 deaths from the virus. More information later today. pic.twitter.com/fiQChvG3Oh

— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) August 19, 2020