Australia’s coronavirus death toll surges to 34 after FOUR more people die in NSW overnight
- Four more people died of coronavirus in NSW on Saturday, rising state total to 16
- A total of 34 people have died from COVID-19 in Australia, with over 5,600 cases
Australia’s coronavrius death toll has jumped to 34, after four more people died from the virus in New South Wales on Saturday.
The four fatalities take the NSW death toll to 16, or almost half of all cases across the country.
The deaths were all men, aged 61, 76, 80, and 91 – with three of them passengers on the Ruby Princess cruise ship.
A total of 5,666 people across Australia are now confirmed to have coronavirus, with NSW continuing to be the nation’s epicentre.
Australia’s coronavrius death toll has jumped to 34, after four more people died from the virus in New South Wales on Saturday – three of them had been passengers on the Ruby Princess
NSW Health protection executive director Dr Jeremy McAnulty confirmed the latest deaths on Sunday morning.
‘Our condolences go to their families,’ Dr McAnulty said.
While the spike in the number of deaths on Saturday is cause for concern, a positive came via a drop in the number of confirmed new patients.
NSW recorded just 87 new cases – a significant drop in the daily numbers that were being seen in late-March.
Still, Dr McAnulty urged people – particularly those in the younger age group – not to take the threat of the virus lightly.
‘This is an extremely dangerous virus. It is still marching through our community, and people need to be on high alert,’ he said.
Victoria and Queensland also recorded a drop in the number of confirmed cases on Saturday.
There were 20 new cases in Victoria, taking the state’s total to 1135, while the curve appears to be flattening in Queensland with nine new cases taking the total to 907.
NSW Health protection executive director Dr Jeremy McAnulty (pictured) confirmed the latest deaths on Sunday morning
It is the fourth day in a row that the number of new infections has fallen in the north, after 57 cases on Thursday, 39 on Friday and 25 on Saturday.
Four Queenslanders have died and 56 remain in hospital. Eight are in intensive care wards, with six requiring ventilators.
Across the state, medical workers have carried out 56,000 tests for COVID-19 since the crisis began.
The majority of new cases continued to be from Australians returning from overseas, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Sunday.
‘We need to keep up the great effort that Queenslanders have been doing,’ she said.
‘Out of that 907, 119 are linked to cruise ships. So, that goes to show the impact that the cruise ships that have come into Australia are having on Queensland totals.’
But she reinforced the need to continue with restrictions and said the state would not be reopening its border.
‘This is not going to end internationally, nationally or even by state until there is a vaccine,’ she said.
‘Queenslanders are doing the right thing, we are seeing that number come down for the positive cases and that means the social distancing and stopping of mass movements and gathering is working.
‘Any relaxation of measures may increase the number of cases as well.
‘On Saturday we saw crowds at markets and, guys, it’s not on.
‘If I see that happen again, they’re going to be shut down immediately because people are not observing social distancing from each other.’