5.10pm
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City of Greater Bendigo chief executive Craig Niemann said it's very encouraging to see the city's case numbers at zero but warned against becoming complacent.
"It's taken considerable effort by everyone to get to this point and has been achieved because we have done all the right things - social distancing, keeping up our hand hygiene, wearing masks and largely staying home," he said.
"While this is great news, it doesn't mean that we should become complacent.
"COVID-19 could well be in our community and we just don't know it - someone may be asymptomatic or displaying mild symptoms and just hasn't been tested.
"We should be celebrating this news and a job well done but it's on all of us to continue following the restrictions of the day and to get tested if needed, so we can stay well and continue to enjoy the freedom that we have gotten back."
Yesterday, Bendigo Health chief executive Peter Faulkner said having no cases in the Greater Bendigo community would be fantastic.
"But we know there are still active cases in the Macedon Ranges area and elsewhere in Victoria," he said.
"As things open up, the risk is always there. That is why we encourage people to come and get tested."
4.15pm
BENDIGO business leaders hope to see a normal Christmas, as the city's active COVID-19 case numbers drop to zero.
Greater Bendigo's official COVID-19 statistics show zero cases in the local government area for the first time since June 27.
However Bendigo Health has confirmed it is treating a COVID-19 patient with an out-of-Bendigo address.
Business enterprise centre Be.Bendigo chief executive Dennis Bice said it was "extremely good news" and a credit to everyone who had worked hard to comply with COVID-19 restrictions.
Mr Bice said Bendigo businesses would be extremely heartened by the news.
But he said people needed to continue to follow the rules, so Bendigo could get to the point where it could open up further.
OTHER NEWS
Mr Bice said every step towards normal was a confidence boost for businesses.
"The businesses have been amazingly resilient and certainly innovative in terms of keeping themselves going," he said.
"Every step we take will be incredibly important, it will build confidence
"We've just got to keep doing the right things. That's what's going to keep us moving forward quicker than originally planned."
3pm
Bendigo Health has revealed that it is treating one inpatient who is positive for COVID-19.
The service said the person is not a Greater Bendigo resident, and therefore not showing as a local case in the DHHS numbers.
Earlier
There are no longer any active cases of coronavirus in Greater Bendigo, the Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed.
The remaining active case in the municipality was removed from the list on Friday afternoon.
The total number of cases recorded in Greater Bendigo since the start of the pandemic also declined by one to 101.
There were still two active cases in the Macedon Ranges. No cases of the virus were active in the Mount Alexander, Central Goldfields, Campaspe, Loddon or Buloke shires.
The number of cases across the state rose by 14 on Friday. Two of the cases were people from regional Victoria, although the state government said that in each case the patient caught the virus while in Melbourne.
Eight more deaths were added to the COVID-19 toll, taking the the total number of fatalities to 781.
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