Australia confirms lowest increase of COVID-19 cases in about 50 days but 15 new deaths reported

Australia has recorded the lowest number of new coronavirus cases in about seven weeks.

   As of Monday afternoon there have been 24,916 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, and the number of new cases in the last 24 hours is 121, which was the country's lowest daily increase since July 5.

   Despite the slowing rate of infection, the death toll continued to grow with authorities in Victoria, the hardest-hit state by the COVID-19 pandemic, confirming 15 deaths on Monday, all of which were linked to aged care facilities.

   It took Australia's death toll to 517 and Victoria's to 430.

   Of the 121 new cases, Victoria confirmed 116 on Monday and reclassified 17 largely due to duplication, resulting in a net increase of 99.

   "Within Victoria, 29 of the new cases are linked to outbreaks or complex cases and 87 are under investigation," said a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services in Victoria on Monday.

   The department also said that there are 1,568 active cases relating to aged care facilities and 476 active cases among healthcare workers in the state.

   Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth said in an update on Monday afternoon that the rate of growth of cases in the past week showed that "things are indeed becoming under control" in Victoria.

   "I think we all want to acknowledge how difficult it is for Victorians in stage four restrictions and also the remainder of the state under stage three restrictions, it's a light at the end of the tunnel that we are starting to see, of course, with those numbers at 116 cases," he said in Canberra.

   "We've got to be careful because this is going to be a bumpy ride and it may well be the case that those numbers come up a little bit over the coming days. But it's a substantial reassurance that the overall trend is clearly down."