SYDNEY – Australia has reported its second straight day without any COVID-19 deaths, the longest stretch without any fatalities from the virus in three months.

Australian states and territories reported 16 cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, down from 28 on Thursday, and no deaths for two days, the first time Australia has gone 48 hours without a COVID-19 death since July 11.

The results cement optimism that Australia has contained a second wave of COVID-19 infections.

The country’s second most populous state Victoria, the epicentre of Australia‘s COVID-19 outbreak, said they now have less than 200 active infections.

“These are the results that come from a really determined effort to defeat this second wave,” Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.

Australia has reported more than 27,000 coronavirus infections and about 900 deaths – far fewer than many other developed countries.

Reuters