Coronavirus update for Victoria – Saturday 17 October 2021

Victoria was notified of 1,838 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. All were locally acquired cases.

There are 23,376 active cases in Victoria.

There are 777 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria. 151 of those cases are in intensive care, with 94 cases on a ventilator.

Sadly, the Department was notified of seven deaths yesterday:

  • a man in his 80s from Mornington Peninsula
  • a man in his 80s from Darebin
  • a woman in her 80s from Whittlesea
  • a man in his 50s, a woman in her 60s, a man in his 70s, and a man in his 80s, all from Hume

This brings the total number of deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began to 963.

The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 65,605.

Restrictions

Thanks to the incredible efforts of the Victorian people, lockdown (and the curfew) will lift in restricted areas across Victoria at 11:59pm Thursday 21 October.

For more information on eased restrictions across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria from this date, visit Victorians hard work means hitting target ahead of time or Victorias roadmap.

For information on current restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne, visit How we live: metropolitan Melbourne and Mildura Rural City Council.

Vaccines

Yesterday, 38,977 vaccine doses were administered by Victoria’s state-commissioned services.

The total number of doses administered through state-run services is 4,164,736.

89 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and over have now had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 65.5 per cent have had two doses. This excludes most recent Commonwealth data.

New community pop-up vaccination sites will open this week offering walk-ups at the following locations:

  • Victorian Pride Centre, St Kilda
  • Queerspace, Drummond Street, Carlton
  • East Reservoir Senior Citizens Centre
  • Our Lady Guardian of Plants Chaldean Catholic Church, Campbellfield
  • Kingsbury Bowling Club
  • Craigieburn Sports Stadium
  • Fawkner Community Hall
  • Sacred Heart Mission, St Kilda
  • EACH Building, Yarra Junction
  • Bunjil Place, Narre Warren

Victorians are encouraged to book their COVID-19 vaccination through their local GP or community pharmacy, community health service or state vaccination centre. To find a GP or pharmacy provider and make a booking, visit Australian Government Department of Health’s website.

Outbreaks

Of the 1,838 locally acquired cases reported yesterday, the following Local Government Areas in metropolitan Melbourne recorded more than one newly diagnosed case:

  • 23 cases in Banyule
  • 13 cases in Bayside
  • 18 cases in Boroondara
  • 102 cases in Brimbank
  • 41 cases in Cardinia
  • 251 cases in Casey
  • 33 cases in Darebin
  • 34 cases in Frankston
  • 18 cases in Glen Eira
  • 145 cases in Greater Dandenong
  • 24 cases in Hobsons Bay
  • 161 cases in Hume
  • 29 cases in Kingston
  • 20 cases in Knox
  • 17 cases in Manningham
  • 20 cases in Maribyrnong
  • 15 cases in Maroondah
  • 45 cases in Melbourne
  • 128 cases in Melton
  • 39 cases in Monash
  • 22 cases in Moonee Valley
  • 56 cases in Moreland
  • 15 cases in Mornington Peninsula
  • 13 cases in Nillumbik
  • 45 cases in Port Phillip
  • 12 cases in Stonnington
  • 11 cases in Whitehorse
  • 138 cases in Whittlesea
  • 186 cases in Wyndham
  • 25 cases in Yarra
  • 20 cases in Yarra Ranges

There were 449 new cases in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, 527 new cases in the western suburbs, 612 cases in the south-eastern suburbs and 101 cases in the eastern suburbs.

There were also 142 new cases notified in regional Victoria yesterday. The total number of active cases in regional Victoria stands at 1,604. New cases in regional Victoria yesterday were:

  • 4 cases in Ballarat
  • 1 case in Bass Coast
  • 19 cases in Baw Baw
  • 1 case in Campaspe
  • 1 case in Colac-Otway
  • 1 case in Corangamite
  • 2 cases in East Gippsland
  • 9 cases in Greater Bendigo
  • 19 cases in Greater Geelong
  • 33 cases in Greater Shepparton
  • 6 cases in Latrobe
  • 4 cases in Macedon Ranges
  • 12 cases in Mildura
  • 12 cases in Mitchell
  • 2 cases in Moira
  • 2 cases in Moorabool
  • 3 cases in Murrindindi
  • 1 case in South Gippsland
  • 3 cases in Strathbogie
  • 1 case in Surf Coast
  • 2 cases in Swan Hill
  • 1 case in Towong
  • 1 case in Wangaratta
  • 1 case in Wellington
  • 1 case in Wodonga

Data on Victorian coronavirus cases is available at Victorian COVID-19 data.

There are currently more than 60,100 active primary close contacts in isolation in Victoria.

At midday today, there were around 130 published exposure sites in Victoria.

For more information on each exposure site, including dates and times of exposure, please visit Case alerts – public exposure-sites.

There may be occasions when the Department is unable to make contact with a business or residential premises before their listing as an exposure site. At all times, we take the decision of when to publish these sites in the interests of public health.

The Department regularly manages exposure sites that it doesn’t publish online, particularly if these sites represent lower-risk exposure, or if they have comprehensive record-keeping and contact-tracing measures, or if they identify small, private locations – including smaller apartment or townhouse complexes.

The Commonwealth Government publishes a weekly Common Operating Picture, which includes the effective reproduction number for all states and territories. For more information, refer to Coronavirus COVID-19 common operating picture.

Wastewater testing

COVID-19 viral fragments have been detected in wastewater samples taken from the following regional areas:

  • Yarrawonga – unexpected detection for the period 12 – 14 October.
  • Mallacoota – repeated unexpected detections for the period 5 – 13 October.
  • Lakes Entrance – repeated unexpected detections for the period 6 – 15 October.
  • Cobram – repeated unexpected detections for the period from 29 September onward.
  • Apollo Bay – repeated unexpected detections for the period 28 September – 8 October.

The detections could be an undiscovered new case or cases or could be the result of one or more people in these areas who have recovered from COVID-19 but are still shedding the virus.

Anyone who lives in, works in or has visited the areas above is urged to watch for the mildest of COVID-19 symptoms and get tested as soon as possible if symptoms develop.

For more information on wastewater testing, visit Wastewater testing.

Testing

73,501 COVID-19 tests were processed in Victoria.

If you are concerned about losing money from missing work to get a test, support is available – including the $450 test isolation payment. For more information, go to Financial support.

To find your nearest COVID-19 testing site, visit Where to get tested. Operating hours and wait times will vary.

More information

To access the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Victoria, visit Coronavirus (COVID-19) Victoria

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