Australia: Victoria records deadliest day of virus pandemic

Australia's hard-hit Victoria state on Wednesday recorded one of its deadliest days of the pandemic despite new coronavirus infections continuing to trend down.

The 24 fatalities due to COVID-19 in the latest 24-hour period is the largest death toll apart from the all-time daily record of 25 set on August 17.

State Premier Daniel Andrews said 149 news cases were reported on Wednesday following 148 infections on Tuesday.

Andrews said he was grateful for residents following the rules to help drive the case numbers down.

"To have the numbers down from the 700s down to a weekly trend now that sees them well and truly into the 100s, that is a mighty effort," Andrews said.

Wednesday's count brought the weekly average to 175 new cases a day, down from 279 in the previous week.