Coronavirus update for Victoria – 3 September 2021

Victoria was notified of 209 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. 208 were locally acquired cases and one case was in a recently returned overseas traveller in hotel quarantine.

There are 1180 active cases in Victoria – 1176 locally acquired and four overseas acquired cases.

There are 64 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria. 16 cases are in intensive care and 11 cases are on ventilators.

The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 22,570.

Sadly, the Department has been notified of the death yesterday of a man aged in his 60s from Altona North who was diagnosed with COVID-19.

This brings the total number of deaths from the current outbreak to three and the total number of deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began to 823.

Update: NSW / Victoria border changes

With more than 1000 cases per day and a trajectory of exponential growth, the risk that NSW poses to Victoria is greater than ever. It’s crucial that our quarantine and testing obligations are adequate for the workers travelling in and out of NSW extreme risk zones.

The Specified Worker List will now be reduced and we are increasing testing obligations for those who are entering on a Specified Worker Permit. They will need to be tested within 72 hours of entering Victoria, on days 6, 7 or 8 after entry and again on day 13 or 14. Crossing the border will no longer be permitted to attend physical recreation facilities and the number of communities in the border bubble will also be reduced.

These changes will come into effect from 6:00pm today (Friday 3 September).

Border bubble arrangements have been tightened, effective from 11.59pm last night (Thursday 2 September).

Six Victorian local government areas including Greater Bendigo, Greater Shepparton, City of Benalla, Buloke, Loddon, Yarriambiack and two NSW LGAs - Broken Hill and Edward River - will no longer be defined as cross border communities. This means residents in those LGAs will not be eligible for a cross-border Extreme Risk Zone permit to enter Victoria or return from NSW.

Update: Restrictions

Due to the ongoing level of community transmission and the continued number of unlinked cases across Victoria, the Chief Health Officer has declared that almost all of the current lockdown restrictions will remain in place until 70 per cent of Victorians have had at least one dose of vaccine. This is estimated to be around 23 September.

Until then, there are still be only five reasons to leave home: shopping for food and supplies, authorised work and study, care and caregiving, exercise, and getting vaccinated. Other restrictions, including mask wearing, will stay the same.

From 11.59pm last night (Thursday 2 September), playgrounds can now re-open with strict rules to keep everyone safe. Playgrounds are for children under 12 with only one parent or carer, and adults should not remove their masks to eat or drink. Playgrounds will also have QR codes for checking in. In-home care, such as babysitters, will also be expanded to school aged children but only if both parents are authorised workers.

Further information about the easing of restrictions when 70 per cent of Victorians have had at least one vaccine dose is available at Slowing the spread and keeping our state safe.

Update: Priority vaccination access for final year students

A priority vaccination program from Tuesday 7 September until Sunday 19 September is in place to ensure our senior students can sit year 12 exams with certainty.The Department of Health and the Department of Education are working directly with schools.

Students sitting year 12 exams, teachers and their examiners will be given priority booking access at our state-run clinics, as walk ups are not available as part of this blitz.

Year 12 students will be able to call and book an appointment from Monday 6 September. Year 11 students who are sitting unit 3 and 4 exams can call from Wednesday 8 September.

Students and parents will receive the advice on how to arrange a booking through their schools.

More than 50,000 priority appointments will be created across the state. There will be a small number of pop-up vaccination hubs established at secondary schools in Greater Dandenong, Hume, Melton, Moreland and Wyndham.

Vaccines

Yesterday, 33,511 vaccine doses were administered by Victoria’s state-commissioned services yesterday.

The total number of doses administered through these services is 2,517,338.

More than five million doses have been administered through all Victoria vaccination sites since the program commenced.

Getting vaccinated has never been more important – it is our way out of this pandemic. Nearly three weeks ago we announced a goal to administer one million doses in five weeks, and we are now more than half-way to that goal with 589,282 doses delivered.

We are due to reach the 70 per cent first dose mark for eligible Victorians by 23 September.

Everyone between ages 16 to 59 years is now eligible to receive Pfizer vaccinations through both state-run centresand participating GPs.

In line with advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, the dosage interval for AstraZeneca vaccinations is now revised down from 12 weeks to 6 weeks for all Victorians. This now matches the recommended dosage interval for Pfizer vaccines. This change, and the additional supply of Pfizer from the Commonwealth when it arrives, will help us to reach our vaccination targets faster.

AstraZeneca is a safe and effective vaccine and there are more than 50,000 Astra Zeneca appointments available across Victoria over the next two weeks. We had more than 14,000 Astra Zeneca bookings made yesterday and 75 per cent were for people aged under 40.

If you’re yet to be vaccinated, please book your appointment today – either in the state system, or in your general practice or local pharmacy. If have any questions or concerns you can talk to a GP, pharmacist or to a senior and experienced immuniser at our state-run sites.

If you are booked in for an appointment at the Royal Exhibition Building from next Monday through to the end of September, you’ll be notified of a change of venue to the neighbouring Melbourne Museum.

The temporary Museum site will have the same capacity and operate during the same hours. Your booking will be updated automatically, and you will receive a text message that will provide information on the new location details.

All Victorians are encouraged where possible to book their vaccination appointment by visiting the Making Victoria safe, together portal or by phoning the Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.

Bookings can be made on Victoria's online booking system at: Book your vaccine appointment or you can ring the coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.

Outbreaks

Of the 208 local cases, 96 have been linked and 112 cases remain under investigation.

• 48 cases are in the western metropolitan area
• 128 cases are in the northern metropolitan area
• 13 cases are in the eastern metropolitan area
• 2 cases are linked to the Shepparton outbreak
• 17 cases are in other Local Government Areas

Of Victoria’s active cases:

• 195 are aged between 0 and 9
• 186 are aged between 10 and 19
• 283 are aged between 20 and 29
• 209 are aged between 30 and 39

Today’s case numbers and the wide geographic spread continue to show why we need to continue to slow this virus down until enough of us are vaccinated. The current Delta outbreak continues to focus on younger people. Just over 73 per cent of all active cases in Victoria are aged under 40 years and only 29 cases or 14 per cent of the new cases announced today are aged over 50.

There are currently more than 14,000 active primary close contacts in isolation in Victoria.

At midday today, there were more than 950 exposure sites in Victoria.

Please check the website for all exposure sites and the dates and times of exposure at Case alerts – public exposure sites.

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

COVID-19 wastewater detections in Victoria

The Department is continuing to identify unexpected detections of COVID-19 fragments in wastewater in metropolitan Melbourne in areas that have not recorded recent positive cases.

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

Current areas of concern are:

Metro catchments - residential

• Western suburbs: Aberfeldie, Essendon, Essendon Fields, Essendon North, Essendon West, Niddrie – detection with period of interest 25-30 August. Tottenham and West Footscray – repeat detections with period of interest 23-31 August. Sunshine West, Sunshine and Sunshine North – repeat detections with period of interest 22 August – 1 September. South Kingsville and Spotswood – repeat detections with period of interest 17-20 and 22-27, 29-31 August.

• Southern suburbs: Aspendale, Aspendale Gardens, Bonbeach, Carrum, Chelsea, Chelsea Heights, Edithvale, Mordialloc, Patterson Lakes, Seaford – repeat detections in the period of interest 23 August – 2 September.

Metro catchments - industrial

• Sunshine West – 17 repeated detections in the period of interest 8 August – 1 September

More information is available at Wastewater testing.

Testing

48,572 tests were processed in Victoria yesterday.

Around 6000 tests were completed in Shepparton yesterday as part of day 13 testing of people in isolation.

See new and extended testing sites, where to get tested and expected wait times at Where to get tested for COVID-19.

General advice

COVID-19 symptoms include fever, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath and loss or change in sense of smell or taste. If you are experiencing symptoms, wear a fitted face mask when you get tested.

For more information call the 24-hour Coronavirus Hotline at 1800 675 398 or visit Coronavirus (COVID-19) Victoria.

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