Coronavirus update for Victoria 21 May 2022

There are 552 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria – with 21 active cases in ICU, including 7 on a ventilator, and an additional 4 cleared cases in ICU.

6,235,138 vaccine doses have been administered by Victoria’s state-commissioned services, with 1,715 administered yesterday at state-run centres.

67.1 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and over have had three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. 94.6 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over have had two doses.

11,925 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded yesterday. This includes 8,854 who tested positive on a Rapid Antigen Test and 3,071 who returned a positive result on a PCR test.

Sadly, the Department was notified of 21 deaths yesterday in people aged in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. This brings the total number of deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began to 3,237.

There are 76,891 active cases in Victoria.

19,106 PCR tests were processed yesterday. The total number of PCR tests performed in Victoria since the pandemic began is 20,894,990.

Update

New Omicron sub-lineage detections in wastewater

There have been further detections of COVID-19 Omicron strain sub-lineages in wastewater samples taken from Victorian catchments.

The BA.4 or BA.5 sub-lineage of Omicron is being detected at increasing frequency at low levels in wastewater samples. There have been 33 wastewater detections at Tullamarine Airport and residential catchments in metropolitan Melbourne and the Greater Geelong area since mid-April.

The Omicron BA.2.12.1 sub-lineage has now been detected in 12 wastewater samples in Victoria since April.

Early evidence suggests the Omicron sub-lineages BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 are more able to evade immunity from earlier COVID-19 infection and vaccination. There is no evidence to suggest that they cause more severe disease. These sub-lineages are unlikely to be at levels in Victoria that contribute to rising COVID-19 cases at this stage.

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