Coronavirus update for Victoria – 18 September 2021

Victoria was notified of 535 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. All 535 cases were locally acquired.

There are 4,974 active cases in Victoria – 4,972 locally acquired and two overseas-acquired cases.

There are 207 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria. 56 of those cases are in intensive care, with 40 cases on a ventilator.

Sadly, the Department was notified yesterday of the death of a woman in her 70s.

The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 27,968.

Restrictions

Restrictions on outdoor social interaction and gatherings, outdoor exercise and the distance people can travel from their home eased in the lockdown areas of metropolitan Melbourne and Ballarat at 11.59 pm last night.

In regional Victoria (excluding Ballarat), gyms and swimming pools can also reopen with capacity limits.

For more information, refer to New Freedoms When 70 Per Cent First Dose Target Reached.

Vaccines

Yesterday, a record 45,537 vaccine doses were administered by Victoria’s state-commissioned services. The total number of doses administered through state-run services is 3,075,843.

More than 71 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and over have now had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

There are currently around 5,400 Pfizer appointments and 8,100 AstraZeneca appointments available over the next seven days.

Tomorrow is the final day of the VCE blitz with priority bookings for Year 11 and Year 12 students taking a 3-4 subject. If you are eligible book your priority appointment through the hotline provided by your school.

Under current public-health directions, getting vaccinated is not a reason to travel from a restricted area to a non-restricted regional area and vice versa.

Outbreaks

Of the 535 local cases diagnosed yesterday, 62 were linked to current cases as of this morning. More cases are expected to be linked to current cases and outbreaks as investigations continue.

The following Local Government Areas recorded more than one newly diagnosed case yesterday:

• 2 cases in Ballarat
• 8 cases in Banyule
• 4 cases in Bayside
• 16 cases in Brimbank
• 3 cases in Cardinia
• 7 cases in Casey
• 15 cases in Darebin
• 4 cases in Glen Eira
• 10 cases in Greater Dandenong
• 4 cases in Greater Geelong
• 23 cases in Hobsons Bay
• 194 cases in Hume
• 2 in Macedon Ranges
• 2 cases in Manningham
• 4 cases in Maribyrnong
• 2 cases in Maroondah
• 14 cases in Melbourne
• 18 cases in Melton
• 5 cases in Mitchell
• 3 cases in Monash
• 10 cases in Moonee Valley
• 52 cases in Moreland
• 3 cases in Port Phillip
• 62 cases in Whittlesea
• 50 cases in Wyndham
• 4 cases in Yarra
• 2 cases in Yarra Ranges.

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

Around 55 per cent of cases identified in Victoria yesterday are in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, with about 34 per cent in Melbourne’s western suburbs.

Around 85 per cent of all active cases in Victoria are people under 50 years of age, while almost one quarter of cases are people in their 20s.

Of the COVID-19 patients in hospital yesterday, 87 per cent are not vaccinated and 12 per cent are partially vaccinated. Two people are fully vaccinated.

There are currently more than 20,791 active primary close contacts in isolation in Victoria.

At midday today, there were more than 795 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 page.

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.

Wastewater testing

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

• Aireys Inlet and Fairhaven – there has been a third unexpected detection. The period of interest is 7 to 17 September.
• Moe area – there have been four unexpected detections in an area that includes Moe, Newborough, Trafalgar, Yallourn and Yarragon. The period of interest is 13 to 17 September.
• Ballarat – repeated wastewater detections in the Ballarat area. The period of interest is 6 to 17 September.

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

61,622 COVID-19 tests were processed yesterday, with 3,177 tests in the Ballarat area.

Ballarat Health Services has opened an additional drive-through testing clinic at Federation University’s Mount Helen campus. The clinic is open from 8 am to 6 pm every day. Enter via Gear or Bell avenues to access East Terrace.

Getting tested as soon as you have symptoms will help health authorities identify new positive cases and provide proper care for your family.

If you are concerned about losing money from missing work, support is available – including the $450 test isolation payment. For more information, go to Financial and other support for COVID-19 page.

To find your nearest COVID-19 testing site, visit Where to get tested for COVID-19 page. 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 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.

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