Yesterday, 3,858 vaccine doses were administered by Victoria’s state-commissioned services. The total number of doses administered through state-run services is 4,875,887.
94.1 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over have now had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 91.6 per cent have had two doses. This excludes the most recent Commonwealth data.
There are 303 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria – 51 active cases in ICU, with 27 of those on a ventilator. There are an additional 46 cleared cases in ICU. Of those in hospital, 62 per cent were not fully vaccinated and of those in ICU 84 per cent were not fully vaccinated.
Victoria was notified of 1,312 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. All cases were locally acquired .The 10 Local Government areas with the highest number of new cases are Hume, Brimbank, Casey, Whittlesea, Melton, Kingston, Moreland, Monash, Wyndham and Boroondara.
All locations containing new cases will be published today at Victorian COVID-19 data.
There are 11,331 active cases in Victoria. The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 131,325.
Sadly, the Department was notified yesterday of five deaths of people aged in their 80s and 90s. This brings the total number of deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began to 1,390. Of those total number of deaths in the current outbreak, 76 per cent were not fully vaccinated.
79,490 COVID-19 tests were processed yesterday. The total number of tests performed in Victoria since the pandemic began is 15,654,591.
There are currently more than 25,800 active primary close contacts in isolation in Victoria.
Updates
Confirmed Omicron Case in Hotel Quarantine
Following whole genomic sequencing, the case in Hotel Quarantine reported yesterday has been confirmed as having the Omicron variant.
Cases Under Investigation in the Community
The Department of Health is leading a strong outbreak response into the following likely Omicron cases recently detected in the community.
Two cases have returned results with S gene dropout – a signature of the Omicron variant.
Cases have been identified in the cities of Casey and Brimbank. Household contacts of these cases have also tested positive and whole genome sequencing is underway to confirm whether these represent the Omicron variant.
None of these cases are linked to international travel and their source of acquisition is under investigation.
The Department has interviewed the cases and is taking a conservative approach to the designation of their contacts, including in non-household settings.
A number of contacts have been identified and instructed to quarantine for 14 days. Other people of lower risk have been instructed to get a test and isolate until they receive a negative result. Further contact tracing work is ongoing and is likely to produce more contacts.
As was previously announced before the emergence of the Omicron variant, most people who come into contact with a confirmed case outside their home won’t have to self-quarantine, but “the Department of Health will continue to manage emerging outbreaks of concern and ‘superspreader events’ and can impose a quarantine period on contacts on a case-by-case basis, depending on evidence.”
If you are contacted by the Department with special advice – or you receive an SMS advice to get tested or quarantine after visiting a high-risk venue – you are required to follow this advice.
Should genomic sequencing results indicate a case does not have the Omicron variant, the Department may retract close contact advice and provide updated advice to contacts. If you are in this situation, please await direct advice from the Department.
To see the testing and quarantine requirements for international travellers entering Victoria, visit Information for overseas travellers.
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 practicing COVIDSafe behaviours such as wearing masks and checking in.
- Information for overseas travellers has updates on inbound international restrictions
- Current COVIDSafe settings for living and working in Victoria
- Your COVID Checklist
