Victoria records 510 new COVID-19 cases and one death as state hits 70 per cent first dose target
A Victorian woman in her 50s has died with COVID-19 and the state recorded more than 500 new local cases on Friday as the 70 per cent first-dose vaccination milestone was reached and people prepare for a modest easing of restrictions.
As Victoria recorded 510 new local coronavirus cases on Friday, mostly in Melbourne’s north and west, Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the state had surpassed its target for 70 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and above receiving the first dose of a vaccine.
Medical staff administering COVID-19 tests in Melbourne.Credit:Getty
Of the 510 local cases, 124 have so far been linked to known cases and outbreaks.
A woman in her 50s with COVID-19 died on Thursday.
More than 43,993 vaccine doses were administered in Victoria on Thursday, with the state scraping past its target reaching 70.25 per cent first dose vaccinations, Mr Morrison said.
“Those numbers continue to go up,†the prime minister told radio station 3AW on Friday.
Mr Morrison said 42.94 per cent of eligible Victorians are now double-dosed, and about 10 per cent of young people aged 12 to 15 have received one dose.
“That’s great, that’s only been going very recently,†Mr Morrison said.
There was also a new case recorded in hotel quarantine in Victoria on Friday, with a total of 4697 active cases.
The figures come as more than 20 exposure sites were listed across the regions overnight and as Victorians prepare to enjoy more freedoms after it was announced that social outing rules would be loosened.
From Saturday, up to five fully vaccinated adults or two non-vaccinated people, from two different households, will be able to meet outdoors after the state was due to reach the 70 per cent first-dose vaccination target overnight on Thursday.
Premier Daniel Andrews acknowledged the practical limitations on policing people by vaccination status, and said he was relying on Victorians doing the right thing.
As well as limited outdoor gatherings such as picnics, the changes from 11.59pm Friday also include the widening of the five-kilometre movement limit to 10 kilometres, the reopening of outdoor gyms and skate parks and Melburnians will be able to exercise for four hours per day, up from two.
While gyms and pools can reopen with density limits in regional Victoria, Ballarat, which began a week-long lockdown on Thursday, shares the same restrictions as Melbourne.
Cases, exposure sites in regional Victoria growAbout 95 per cent of Victoria’s new coronavirus cases are in Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs, but there have been new cases recorded in regional areas.
Three new cases were recorded in the regional city of Ballarat, taking the number of cases there to nine across three different households. The cases were sparked, health authorities said, by an authorised worker who travelled from Melbourne for work in Ballarat.
Most of the exposure sites listed for regional Victoria overnight were in Ballarat, and include shopping centres, supermarkets, a Bunnings warehouse and the Myer store in the centre of the city.
A medical clinic on the Bellarine Peninsula has also been classified a tier one site after two cases in Greater Geelong were newly diagnosed on Thursday.
The health department is asking anyone who was in the Curlewis Medical Centre on September 9 from 11am to 12.10pm to get tested and immediately isolate for 14 days.
Other new cases in regional VictoriaWhile the NSW border city of Albury went into lockdown on Thursday night, sister city Wodonga has not yet suffered the same fate, though a new exposure site was listed overnight on the Victorian side.
Victoria’s COVID response commander Jeroen Weimar said health authorities were watching Wodonga closely after four truck drivers who passed through the town have since tested positive over the past few days.
A Chinese restaurant in Wodonga’s main street was listed as a tier 2 exposure site overnight.
Mr Weimar said of the regional cases, the most concern lay with Wodonga due to cases in Albury and the truck drivers who travelled through.
He said it was “critically important†that this most critical of services maintained “very strict protocols around their activities†and get vaccinated.
Baby in intensive care in VictoriaVictorian health minister Martin Foley said a baby is in intensive care with COVID-19.
Mr Foley said the child is under the age of one and that he didn’t know if there were any underlying health conditions.
Melbourne tradies protest ‘smoko ban’Small groups of construction workers are protesting a statewide tearoom ban by taking a smoko break in the middle of some of the city’s main roads.
Mr Andrews announced on Thursday that tearooms on construction sites would be closed to prevent further spread of COVID-19 between workers eating and drinking inside.
On Friday morning, small groups of protesters stopped traffic in the city, and the suburbs of Richmond, Footscray and Brunswick.
Mr Andrews also introduced a vaccine mandate for the sector, requiring workers to get a first dose of a vaccine by next Friday.
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