Victoria was notified of 57 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. 55 were locally acquired cases and two cases were in recently returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
There are 349 active cases in Victoria - 346 locally acquired and three overseas acquired cases.
There are 15 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria. Six cases are in intensive care and one case is on a ventilator.
The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 21,328.
Update: Outbreaks
Of the 55 new locally acquired cases, 25 cases were in quarantine throughout their infectious period. 49 cases are linked to known outbreaks.
The locally acquired cases are:
- 14 cases are linked to Al-Taqwa College households - these are the result of day 13 testing of primary close contacts.
- 13 cases are linked to MyCentre Childcare in Broadmeadows.
- Six cases are linked to the City of Port Phillip / St Kilda community outbreak.
- Four cases are linked to the Newport Football Club outbreak.
- Four cases are linked to the Central Park Pizza in Malvern East.
- Three cases are linked to the Glenroy West Primary School outbreak.
- Two cases are linked to the Newport community outbreak.
- Two cases are contacts of a previously reported case from Altona North.
- One case is linked to residential housing towers at 510 Lygon St, Carlton.
- Six cases are not currently linked to known outbreaks and are under investigation. These cases reside in Tullamarine, Pakenham, Point Cook, Doncaster East, Port Melbourne and Brunswick.
A public health response is underway in Shepparton after the discovery of a positive case there this morning. Eleven additional cases have also been reported this afternoon. These new cases will be recorded in tomorrow's numbers. The household contacts are in isolation and St Mel's Primary School in Shepparton has been closed for deep cleaning. Other close contacts are being identified and will be asked to isolate and get tested. Residents of and visitors to Shepparton are urged to regularly go to our website and look for new exposure sites as they are posted. There have been three COVID-19 wastewater fragment detections in Shepparton over the past fortnight.
In the current outbreak, the age profile of positive cases is younger than it has been for previous outbreaks. Of the current active cases, 89 are children aged 0-9 years, 72 are aged 10-19, 120 are aged 20-39, 56 and aged 40-59 and 12 are aged over 60.
There are currently more than 10,000 active primary close contacts in isolation in Victoria. Around 2100 primary close contacts were cleared yesterday.
Authorised officers, supported by the Australian Defence Force, continue to visit homes across Victoria to ensure that people are isolating correctly and are well supported. Household engagement teams conducted 818 visits yesterday. Officers are seeing a strong level of compliance.
There are more than 440 exposure sites in Victoria.
Please check the website for all exposure sites and the dates and times of exposure at Case alerts - public exposure sites.
The Department regularly manages exposure sites that it doesn't publish online, particularly if these sites represent lower-risk exposures, or if they have comprehensive record-keeping and contact tracing measures, or if they identify small, private locations - including smaller apartment or townhouse complexes.
We continue to ask every Victorian to check exposure sites regularly, as they are subject to change based on follow-up interviews and further investigation.
Update: Public health focus on St Kilda and surrounding areas
The Department continues to ask anyone who lives, works or spends time in St Kilda to get tested. There was another strong response to the call to test yesterday with more than 1000 people at the Palais Theatre car park testing site. People can get tested at any testing centre. Getting tested is a permitted reason to leave your 5-kilometre radius.
The call to test for St Kilda and surrounding areas was made due to a growing number of unlinked cases in an area stretching from the outer areas of Middle Park to North Caulfield, across the LGAs of Port Phillip and Glen Eira, including Fitzroy Street and other commercial areas in St Kilda.
Update: Vaccinations
28,601 vaccine doses were administered by Victoria's state-commissioned services yesterday.
The total number of doses administered through these services is 2,050,042.
Following the successful operation of Australia's first drive-through vaccination clinic that recently opened in Melton, the Victorian Government has announced the locations of three new drive-through vaccination hubs in Broadmeadows, Sandown Racecourse in Springvale and Eagle Stadium in Werribee.
More information about these new clinics, including their opening dates can be seen at More drive-through vaccination clinics for Victoria page.
More and more appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine are opening up. There are 380,000 vaccine appointments available over the next four weeks. For more information, see: More and more Victorians pick a reason to get vaccinated page.
Victorians aged between 18 and 39 can attend a state-run vaccination centre to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine should they provide informed consent.
Anyone who is eligible to be vaccinated is strongly encouraged to make a booking.
Victoria's online booking system is now live at Book your vaccine appointment
