Coronavirus update for Victoria – Tuesday 20 October 2021

Victoria was notified of 1,842 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. 1,841 were locally acquired cases and one case was acquired overseas in a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.

There are 22,598 active cases in Victoria.

There are 786 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria. 147 of those cases are in intensive care, with 97 cases on a ventilator.

Sadly, the Department was notified of 12 deaths yesterday.

This brings the total number of deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began to 993.

The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 70,998.

Restrictions

From 11.59pm tomorrow, non-household primary close contacts who are fully vaccinated will only need to quarantine for 7 days. For more information, see Safe And Sensible Isolation Changes As We Hit 70 Per Cent.

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

For more information on eased restrictions across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria from this date, see Victoria’s Roadmap.

For information on current restrictions, see How we live.. This page will be updated when new restrictions come into effect.

While information on COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination Directions can be found at Information for industry and workers required to be vaccinated page, all businesses are also urged to review their employee vaccination requirements against Victoria’s Roadmap.

The Roadmap provides for a progressive reopening with increased capacity limits across various settings when all attendees are fully vaccinated. This includes workers. The option of increased capacity limits will only apply if everyone present is fully vaccinated (or has a valid medical exemption).

This means if your staff are not fully vaccinated, you may not be able to open or to apply the eased capacity limits offered in the Roadmap. Encourage your workers to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Schools

A new Schools and Early Learning Centre Outbreak Management Plan has been developed in partnership with the Department of Education and Training.

The plan guides schools and early learning centres on assessing the risk posed by COVID-19 cases, and aims to minimise the impacts to children, students and staff.

If a facility is regularly cleaned in-line with their COVIDSafe plan, then deep cleaning will generally not be required after a case has been present.

Single cases and exposures are unlikely to result in extended school closures, however short closures may be required to assess who has been in contact with the case and to undertake notifications.

Contact with positive cases will be assessed by the nature and location of the contact, whether masks were worn and the vaccination status of the contact.

Only high-risk contacts will be quarantined for either seven or 14-days, depending on their vaccination status.

Vaccines

Yesterday, 38,881 vaccine doses were administered by Victoria’s state-commissioned services.

The total number of doses administered through state-run services is 4,273,258.

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 website.

Outbreaks

Data on Victorian coronavirus cases is available from the Victorian COVID-19 data page on the Cornavirus website.

There are currently more than 63,500 active primary close contacts in isolation in Victoria.

The Commonwealth Government publishes a weekly Common Operating Picture, which includes the effective reproduction number for all states and territories.

Update: Border Permit changes

All Local Government Areas in the Greater Sydney region – including Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Shellharbour and Wollongong – are now orange zones.

All Local Government Areas in the remainder of regional New South Wales, plus Jervis Bay Territory, have moved from red/orange zones to green zones.

In addition, Broken Hill in New South Wales and Shepparton in Victoria has re-joined the New South Wales-Victoria cross-border community area.

The ACT remains an orange zone.

These changes came into effect at the same time as broader changes to Victoria’s travel permit system announced last week.

This means, effective from 11:59pm last night, if you have had two doses of COVID-19 vaccine and you have been in the Sydney area (which is now an orange zone), you can enter Victoria on an orange zone permit without any quarantine or testing requirements.

People who are not fully vaccinated entering on an orange zone permit must isolate on arrival, get tested within 72 hours, and stay isolated until they receive a negative result.

Information has been published online from the Victorian Travel Permit System page on the Coronavirus website.

People travelling to Victoria must follow all Chief Health Officer Directions in place while in Victoria.

Testing

78,928 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, see Financial and other support for COVID-19.

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

More information

To access the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Victoria, see the Coronavirus website or call the 24-hour Coronavirus Hotline on 1800 675 398.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can also call the Victorian Aboriginal COVID Information Line on 1800 312 911. Callers will speak with Aboriginal staff who can answer questions about COVID-19 and direct them to relevant support services. The information line is open from 9 am to 5 pm, 7 days a week.

h2>Latest statewide numbers (data reported to 11:59pm yesterday)