Overview
Twelve months ago, if you uttered the words 'doughnut day', you were probably using them in the literal sense between mouthfuls. Thanks to the chaos of 2020, however, the term now refers to a day without any new COVID-19 cases — and, when it comes to locally acquired cases, both New South Wales and Victoria have just notched up that milestone.
Both states have been dealing with a rise of coronavirus numbers since before Christmas, starting in Sydney's northern beaches suburbs, and including cases in Melbourne as well. As a result, festive plans were thrown into disarray around not only both states but the entire country, as new restrictions on borders, gatherings and mask usage came into effect. So, zero new locally acquired cases in NSW and Victoria is the good news that everyone needs in 2021.
Today, Thursday, January 7, NSW Health sent out its daily Tweet with yesterday's numbers and it's what we all want to see: a big fat zero. It spans the period up until 8pm on Wednesday, January 6; however, there were six new cases acquired from overseas, in hotel quarantine, during the same timeframe. In today's press conference, NSW Acting Premier John Barilaro did note that one local case has been identified today, in the northern beaches, but that'll feature in tomorrow's numbers. In total, NSW currently has 114 active cases.
The Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services also sent out its own daily Tweet, and also served up a nice round numeral. In the southern state, in the period until midnight last night, there were also zero new cases acquired from interstate or from overseas, too. That gives Victoria 38 active cases at present, with 32,767 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.
Of course, this doesn't mean the war is over in either state, or around Australia — but it is some very welcome news after a few weeks with rising numbers.
To keep an eye on the situation in Sydney, you can check out an interactive map that plots places that positive COVID-19 cases have visited, which takes data from the state's venue alerts. There's also a map that shows cases by postcode.
If you're in Victoria, you can head to the state's own interactive map, which displays cases by postcode or local government area.
For more information about COVID-19 in NSW and current restrictions, head to NSW Health. For more information about COVID-19 in Victoria, head over to the Department of Health and Human Services website.