Victoria has moved a step closer to officially eliminating the coronavirus that has caused so much devastation across the state, with its last COVID-19 patient being discharged from hospital.

As of Monday, the patient was Victoria’s only active infection.

The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed early on Tuesday the man left Monash Medical Centre on Monday.

His wife, who had also been hospitalised with the virus, was discharged last week.

DHHS said the last time Victoria’s hospitals were free of coronavirus cases was February 21.

Tweet from @peripatetical

Also on Tuesday, Victoria also posted its 26th consecutive day without new infections or fatalities.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the patient’s discharge from hospital was great news “for them and their family”.

“It presents us with an opportunity to yet again thank all of those nurses and doctors, hospital cleaners, ward clerks, ambos, the whole health team for the amazing work that they’ve done throughout this global pandemic event,” he said.

But he also sounded a note of caution.

“Even with this run of zero days, no active cases, very strong testing performance, and people who are just doing the right thing, playing their part, until a vaccine arrives this is something that’s going to be with us for the foreseeable future,” he said.

• ‘Vaccine for the world’: AstraZeneca, Oxford jab hailed as global solution

Tweet from @VicGovDHHS

Monash Medical Centre also treated Victoria’s first hospitalised case of the coronavirus in late February.

The hospital built a new unit in April to treat coronavirus patients, as the number of people requiring treatment began to rise.

The unit was built from components used at the Melbourne Grand Prix and the Melbourne Cup.

Over the course of the pandemic, Victoria registered 20,345 cases of COVID-19 and 819 deaths.

The first case was identified in a returned traveller on January 24.

-with agencies