SYDNEY — Australia is set to record its worst day in the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday with 700 new infections and as many as 13 deaths in Victoria state alone, The Herald Sun newspaper reported.
FILE PHOTO: Walkers wear protective face masks at St Kilda pier in Melbourne after it became the first city in Australia to enforce mask-wearing in public as part of efforts to curb a resurgence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), July 23, 2020. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders
The previous national record of new cases was 518.
Victoria state has been struggling to contain a second wave of infections throughout July and earlier this week authorities there said the latest outbreak may have peaked.
The outbreak in Victoria state has also spilled over into neighbouring states despite internal borders being closed.
Queensland state on Thursday said it had found three new cases, two of whom were believed to have contracted COVID-19 while in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales state.