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Victoria's deadliest day yet: Everything you need to know about COVID-19 this weekend.

— With AAP.

Victoria's second wave is stabilising.  

Victoria's second coronavirus wave is stabilising, according to authorities who expect case numbers to drop within the next two weeks.

The state recorded 394 new COVID-19 cases and 17 more deaths on Sunday, making it Australia's deadliest day since the pandemic began. Premier Daniel Andrews added there's been an increase of 174 more "mystery cases", where there is no known source of the infection. It comes as Victoria recorded 466 new COVID-19 cases and 12 more deaths on Saturday, including a man in his 30s. 

To date, 210 Victorians have died from coronavirus, while the national death toll stands at 295. It has been reported a young trainee doctor is among those fighting for life in intensive care.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said on Saturday that the state was seeing some stabilisation in new case numbers but the figures were still too high.

"We are at 400-500 cases each day, more or less the average over the last week," he said.

"That is not good enough, but it's a positive that we have averted an exponential increase through the last couple of weeks."

NSW records 10 new cases, including a Northern Sydney hospital worker.

NSW has recorded 10 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm Saturday, including two locally transmitted cases without a known source.

Among the new cases is a health care worker at a northern Sydney hospital, who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 after working a full shift in the facility's emergency department.

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The Hornsby Hospital staff member worked on August 6 from 11am to midnight while infectious, the Northern Sydney Local Health District said in a statement on Saturday night, but was wearing a mask at all times while in contact with patients.

Meanwhile, a second student at Tangara School for Girls in Cherrybrook has come down with COVID-19, with all students from years seven to 12 sent into two weeks of self-isolation. The entire school campus will remain closed until August 21.

Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta on Saturday night also confirmed a schoolgirl had contacted COVID-19, with deep cleaning and contact tracing now underway.

NSW Health has also issued advice to shoppers who attended Bunnings in Campbelltown in Sydney's west on August 4, 5 and 6 to be alert to COVID-19 symptoms after an employee tested positive. The worker wore a mask during their shifts.

NSW residents are now largely confined to their own state, after Queensland closed its border to their state, following similar moves by Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.

"I've got COVID, I'm young, and it sucks." A Victorian nurse on the devastating impact of coronavirus.

A young Melbourne nurse, who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 himself, has outlined the "devastating" impact the illness is having in hospitals. 

In a video shared by the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Daniel explained the reality of working "in the thick of the COVID-19 response".

It comes as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed on Sunday that there are 994 healthcare workers among the active cases of COVID-19 in Melbourne.

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Watch: Melbourne nurse on testing positive to COVID-19. Post continues below.

"Every day I went to work there was just this air of nervousness and worry among my colleagues as we all wondered whether we were going to get the virus and infect our friends, our family," Daniel said.

"As COVID cases increased, so did the strain on healthcare workers and outbreaks started happening in aged care," he continued. 

"I've really been in the thick of the COVID response and really been on the front line and I've seen how devastating the virus can be."

Daniel said that since contracting the virus, he has experiences symptoms ranging from a cough to a loss of smell and taste. 

"I'm lucky that I'm young... but you don't want COVID," he said.

"It might suck that we have to stay inside, or wear masks, but the end goal is that we reduce the cases and life can return to some semblance as normal," he added.

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"Trust me, I've got COVID, I'm young, and it sucks. It sucks."

Martin Foley, Minister for Mental Health, announces new government funding package.

The Victorian Minister for Mental Health, Martin Foley, has announced a $60 million package designed to provide additional funding to mental health services amid Victoria's stage four lockdown and beyond. 

It comes as Victoria's second wave has seen the number of people suffering from poor mental health increase.  

"We've seen a 9.5 per cent increase year-on-year for presentations for self-harm in our emergency departments across all age groups," Foley said. "For young people under 18, we've seen a 33 per cent increase in presentations for people with self-harm in emergency departments.

"And overall, across all aspects of how mental illness is presented at our emergency departments, we've seen a 23.3 per cent increase in people presenting in those acute settings with a mental illness."

The HOPE program is a recommendation of the Royal Commission and will include 144 new mental health beds, the rollout of a post hospital suicide prevention program and more.

"The pandemic is stressful. The pandemic is seeing anxiety and depression levels rise quite substantially, but there is help out there. There is support out there," Foley said.

Feature Image: Getty.


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