SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s second-most populous state reported a small rise in new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, boosting hopes that case numbers are stabilising after a second wave forced authorities to send the city of Melbourne back into lockdown.

Victoria state detected 331 new COVID-19 infections and 19 deaths in the past 24 hours, compared with 322 infections and the same number of fatalities a day earlier, health officials said.

Daily infections in Victoria peaked at 725 on Aug. 5 and have been trending lower in recent days, following the imposition of a hard lockdown in Melbourne on July 19.

Nationally, Australia has detected about 22,000 infections and 332 deaths from COVID-19, far fewer than many other developed nations.

Outside the two largest states of Victoria and New South Wales, the virus has been effectively eliminated.

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