Coronavirus update for Victoria 17 December 2021

Yesterday, 11,888 vaccine doses were administered by Victoria’s state-commissioned services. The total number of doses administered through state-run services is 4,935,164.

94.3 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over have now had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 92.4 per cent have had two doses. This excludes the most recent Commonwealth data.

There are 386 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria – 82 active cases in ICU, with 43 of those on a ventilator. There are an additional 36 cleared cases in ICU. Of those in hospital yesterday, 62 per cent were not fully vaccinated while 92 per cent of those in ICU were not fully vaccinated.

Victoria was notified of 1,510 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. All cases were locally acquired except for seven cases that were acquired overseas. The 10 Local Government areas with the highest number of new cases are Hume, Casey, Whittlesea, Moreland, Brimbank, Wyndham, Cardinia, Melton, Glen Eira and Moonee Valley.

All locations containing new cases will be published today at Victorian COVID-19 data.

There are 12,578 active cases in Victoria. The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 142,907.

Sadly, the Department was notified yesterday of seven deaths of people aged in their 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 100s. This brings the total number of deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began to 1,443.

82,301 COVID-19 tests were processed yesterday. The total number of tests performed in Victoria since the pandemic began is 16,292,557.

There are currently more than 28,500 active primary close contacts in isolation in Victoria.

Updates

New Omicron cases

Six new confirmed cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant have been identified in Victoria. This brings the total number of confirmed Omicron variant cases in Victoria to 19.

Five of the new cases are arrivals from NSW and one new case is a recent international arrival.

Public health authorities are responding to 28 confirmed COVID-19 cases linked to the Peel Hotel, Collingwood (16 cases), and Sircuit Bar, Fitzroy (12 cases), sites. One case is confirmed with the Omicron variant. Work is underway to determine if any of the other cases have the Omicron variant.

All Victorians can play their part in reducing the spread of Omicron – or any other variant – by getting tested the moment they notice symptoms or as soon as they are told they are a contact, and practising COVIDSafe behaviours such as wearing masks, physical distancing, checking in and getting a booster when eligible.

Pre-Christmas booster blitz for State vaccination clinics

Capacity is being ramped up at state-run vaccination clinics to assist the Commonwealth’s booster vaccine rollout before Christmas.

There are more than 1000 places to get vaccinated across Victoria as part of the Commonwealth’s vaccination program, which includes GPs, pharmacies and state-run clinics.

Booster appointments can be booked online

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