Australian state reports 7 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths

By Recep Sakar

MELBOURNE (AA) - Australia’s Victoria state reported seven new cases and five more deaths from the novel coronavirus Wednesday.

The number of fatalities in Victoria reached 816, bringing the death toll nationwide to 904, Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews said at a news conference in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, New Zealand reported two more cases that came from Bangladesh and the UK, raising its count to 1,874, including 25 deaths and 1,809 recoveries.

According to the Health Ministry, there are currently 40 active cases with no one receiving treatment in the country’s hospitals.

The pandemic has claimed more than 1 million lives in 189 countries and territories since the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China in December.

The US, India and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries.

More than 38.06 million cases have been reported with more than 26.3 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.