There are 631 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria - 51 active cases in ICU, with 22 of those on a ventilator. There are an additional 49 cleared cases in ICU.
5,075,530 vaccine doses have been administered by Victoria's state-commissioned services, with 20,078 administered yesterday at state-run centres.
94.5 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over have now had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 93 per cent have had two doses. This excludes the most recent Commonwealth data.
12 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over have had three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Victoria was notified of 21,997 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. All cases were locally acquired. The 10 LGAs with the highest number of new cases are Casey, Brimbank, Melbourne, Wyndham, Greater Dandenong, Hume, Melton, Moreland, Boroondara and Monash.
All locations containing new cases will be published today at Victorian COVID-19 data.
Community sample testing of positive cases for the Omicron variant indicates that it is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Victoria. 76 per cent of samples collected over the Christmas period were the Omicron variant. Further testing to confirm this finding is underway.
There are 61,120 active cases in Victoria. The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 252,662.
Sadly, the Department was notified yesterday of six deaths of people aged in their 40s, 60s, 80s and 90s. This brings the total number of deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began to 1,559.
64,861 COVID-19 tests were processed yesterday. The total number of tests performed in Victoria since the pandemic began is 17,697,970.
Updates
Changes to COVID-19 testing requirements
From 11.59 pm tonight, Thursday, 6 January, Victorians who test positive to a rapid antigen test will be considered probable cases of COVID-19 and be subject to the same requirements as confirmed cases from a PCR test. They must report their result, isolate immediately for seven days and notify their contacts.
A density quotient of one person per two square metres will apply to indoor entertainment and hospitality venues in Victoria (except cinemas and theatres) from this time.
