This was published 5 years ago
That's all I have for tonight but we will be back early tomorrow morning with another COVID-19 live blog.
Before I head off here is a look at some of today's major developments:
As the second wave eases, will the Premier's prevarications hurt him?
Melburnians showing signs of lockdown fatigue as cases continue to fall
'We are trending down': Victoria records 182 new coronavirus cases, 13 more deaths
Production of Channel 10 reality TV show The Masked Singer has been suspended due to a COVID-19 cluster, after a crew member tested positive to the virus this week.
There are now seven cases connected to the show's Melbourne set, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Saturday night.
The entire production team has been placed in self-isolation, including host Osher Gunsberg, judges Jackie O, Dave Hughes, Dannii Minogue and the celebrity masked singers.
A spokeswoman for the Victorian health department said "early investigations have determined that the site should close", with all those at the Docklands studio since Wednesday to isolate.
Koo Wee Rup farmer Paul Watzlaff was staring down a dark path on Friday after a shock decision from the State Government to close Farmers Markets due to social distancing concerns.
Mr Watzlaff, partner Clare McCulloch and their casual farm hands and market staff were all on tenterhooks as farming and market groups spent Friday in talks with the government who relented on Friday night, allowing the majority of Victoria’s markets to go ahead.
Mr Watzlaff and Ms McCulloch run Thriving Foods Farm which grows organic, chemical-free vegetables and eggs to sell at farmers markets around Melbourne.
They were looking at losses worth tens of thousands of dollars if markets were closed. They contemplated not just having to give away or use their perishable vegetables as chicken feed but also faced the prospect of having to let go of the 30 people they employ in casual roles.
MUMBAI: India reported a record daily jump of coronavirus infections on Saturday, bringing the total near 3 million and piling pressure on authorities to curb huge gatherings as a major religious festival began.
The 69,878 new infections - the fourth straight day above 60,000 - take India's total cases to 2.98 million, behind only the United States and Brazil. COVID-19 deaths increased by 945 to 55,794, data from the federal health ministry showed.
For most of western India, especially the financial capital Mumbai, the 11-day festival of Hindu elephant-headed god Ganesh is usually celebrated with big public gatherings.
Cases have plateaued in Mumbai, which now averages just above 1,000 a day and has recorded more than 134,000 in total.
But strict pandemic regulations have meant the festival season, which begins this month, has been lacklustre.
Reuters
Richie Porte has reservations that the Tour de France will realistically be completed amid the COVID-19 pandemic but has fully prepared and is still gunning for his last Tour as a title contender.
The Australian and Bauke Mollema will spearhead Trek-Segafredo's general classification bid at the three-week race starting in Nice on August 29, having finished 11th and 28th, respectively, last year.
Porte is off-contract and has been linked with a move to Ineos (formerly Sky) from 2021, the British squad he left at the end of 2015 to pursue his own Tour title chances.
He told The Age earlier this year that at 35, this Tour, the course for which has been described as one of the hardest in modern cycling history, will be his final as a team leader before he likely reverts to super domestique duties.
A Sydney businessman with connections to the Morrison government was granted an exemption from the travel ban to pick up a new luxury yacht in Europe.
Jost Stollmann, the founder of ASX-listed Tyro Payments, was given permission to leave Australia at the end of May and is now waiting out the pandemic on board his yacht in the Greek islands.
German-born Mr Stollmann has lived in Australia since 2004 and became a citizen in January 2011, making him subject to the ban on citizens and permanent residents leaving the country without permission from the government. The travel ban has been in place since March 25.
Mr Stollmann wrote to Double Bay Sailing Club 10 days ago to beg off canteen duty because he was abroad and would only return to Australia once the overseas travel ban was lifted.
In the email, obtained by this masthead, he said he had flown to Trieste, Italy, at the end of June to pick up his "awesome" new 24-metre yacht, SY ALITHIA, which he had then sailed to the "charming and spiritual island of Patmos in the Greek Dodekanese".
Melburnians are showing signs of lockdown fatigue, as the city enters the half-way mark of strict stage four lockdown measures.
But Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has urged Victorians to stay the course, saying the state is on track to have case numbers below 150 by next week if current trends continue.
"Certainly, we are trending down," he said. "That is showing up in the stabilisation of hospital figures as well. We have a decrease in hospitalised patients, a decrease in ICU and even ventilators. So the overall trend is positive. Next week, if we carry on like this, we will see numbers below 150."
New government data shows people returned to public transport in growing numbers last weekend.
A stand-out local government area was Port Phillip, which includes Elwood, South Melbourne and Middle Park, where train and tram use was up by 37 per cent on August 15, compared with the previous Saturday.
The AFL will hear the Queensland government's grand final pitch on Tuesday as an increase in COVID-19 cases in the Sunshine State created more uncertainty for the league ahead of its decision on where to play the season decider.
On Saturday, as a result of nine new cases, the premier Annastacia Palaszczuk reduced gatherings in private homes and public spaces that weren't COVID compliant to 10 in Brisbane, although the Lions were still expecting to host 15,000 spectators at their match against St Kilda.
The Queensland government's presentation, which the chairman and CEO of both Queensland-based AFL clubs have helped develop, will focus on the long-term boost the game will gain from playing the decider in Queensland, as well as the planning advantages created by the strong relationship between the government and the AFL.
By the end of the month, 15 of the 18 AFL clubs will be based in Queensland with Port Adelaide the only likely finalist outside the state in September. However, the Queensland bid was not expected to object to finals other than the grand final being played outside the state.
Austin: Deaths from coronavirus in the US have surpassed 175,000, as states struggle with continued outbreaks of COVID-19.
There were 175,219 deaths from coronavirus in the US and 1.96 million recovered cases, as of August 22, according to the COVID-19 tracker published by Johns Hopkins University.
In New York hundreds of people close to coronavirus victims participated in a "March for the Dead" protest, to mourn their loss and blame Donald Trump for his handling of the crisis, according to AAP. US Senator Chuck Schumer, from New York, tweeted support for the protesters.
Five states, Florida, New York, New Jersey and California and Texas, have all surpassed 10,000 deaths from COVID-19, according to another tally by Bing's Covid-19 tracker.
New South Wales has managed to keep its mystery cases of COVID-19 low, which is ‘good news’ according to one Australian health leader.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said there are now 744 mystery cases in Australia, with most of them in Victoria.
He said that while mystery cases had “mainly been in Melbourne, and mainly related to the community outbreak”, they are decreasing over time.
“Of course any mystery case is a concern, because that demonstrates there are unknown or incomplete chains of transmission in the community,” Professor Kelly said.