| 19 August 2021
57 | 0 | 0 | 296 | 0 | 49,607 | 8,951,486 |
Cases locally acquired | Cases acquired interstate | Cases acquired overseas | Active cases | Lives lost | Tests processed yesterday | Total tests since pandemic began |
3,326,316 | 12,975 | 9.01 |
Number of permits issued
(Jan 11 – 7am today) | Number of permit applications processed in the past 24 hours | Average # of permits issued per minute in the past 24 hours |
Victoria was notified of 57 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. All were locally acquired cases.
There are 296 active cases in Victoria – 295 locally acquired and one overseas acquired cases.
There are 16 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria. Three cases are in intensive care and one case is on a ventilator.
The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 21,271.
Update: Outbreaks
Of the 57 new locally acquired cases, 44 cases were in quarantine throughout their infectious period. 54 cases are linked to known outbreaks.
The locally acquired cases are:
· 38 cases are linked to Al-Taqwa College households – these are the result of day 13 testing of primary close contacts.
· Three cases are linked to the City of Port Phillip / St Kilda community outbreak.
· Three cases are linked to Glenroy West Primary School.
· Three cases are social or household contacts of cases with unknown acquisition
Three cases are linked to a pizza shop business in Malvern East, where a recent mystery case worked.
· One case is linked to the CS Square shopping centre in Caroline Springs.
· One case is linked to residential housing towers at 510 Lygon St, Carlton.
· One case is linked to the Newport Football Club outbreak.
· One case is linked to the Newport community outbreak.
Three cases are not currently linked to known outbreaks and are under investigation:
· One resides in Glenroy.
· One resides in Doncaster.
· One resides in Ascot Vale.
There are currently around 12,000 active primary close contacts in isolation in Victoria. Around 3000 primary close contacts were cleared yesterday.
Authorised officers, supported by the Australian Defence Force, continue to visit homes across Victoria to ensure that people are isolating correctly and are well supported. Household engagement teams conducted 1096 visits yesterday. Officers are seeing a strong level of compliance.
There are more than 500 exposure sites in Victoria.
Please check the website for all exposure sites and the dates and times of exposure at: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/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.
We continue to ask every Victorian to check exposure sites regularly, as they are subject to change based on follow-up interviews and further investigation.
Update: Public health focus on St Kilda and surrounding areas
The Department is asking anyone who lives, works or spends time in St Kilda to get tested.
There was a good response to the call to test yesterday with 1700 tests undertaken at St Kilda sites including 400 tests at the new drive-through and walk-in testing site at the Palais Theatre car park.
People can get tested at any testing centre. Getting tested is a permitted reason to leave your 5-kilometre radius.
The call to test for St Kilda and surrounding areas was made due to a growing number of unlinked cases in an area stretching from the outer areas of Middle Park to North Caulfield, across the LGAs of Port Phillip and Glen Eira. There is also potential transmission along Fitzroy St and other commercial areas in St Kilda.
People must get tested if they have been to exposure sites, or if they have had any symptoms – but the Department’s public health teams are asking for more people to come forward for testing across the region, even if they aren’t currently showing symptoms.
Testing operations in the Port Phillip and Glen Eira areas have been enhanced.
Update: Vaccinations
27,581 vaccine doses were administered by Victoria’s state-commissioned services yesterday.
The total number of doses administered through these services is 2,050,042.
Following the successful operation of Australia’s first drive-through vaccination clinic that recently opened in Melton, today the Victorian Government announced the locations of three new drive-through vaccination hubs which will start operating soon in Broadmeadows, Sandown Racecourse in Springvale and Eagle Stadium in Werribee.
More information about these new clinics, including their opening dates can be seen at: https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/more-drive-through-vaccination-clinics-victoria
More and more appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine are opening up. There are 380,000 vaccine appointments available over the next four weeks, including 26,000 appointments free over the next week. For more information, see: https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/more-and-more-victorians-pick-reason-get-vaccinated
Victorians aged between 18 and 39 can attend a state-run vaccination centre to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine should they provide informed consent.
Anyone who is eligible to be vaccinated is strongly encouraged to make a booking.
Victoria’s online booking system is now live at: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/book-your-vaccine-appointment or you can ring the coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.
Information about Victoria’s vaccination centres can be found at https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccination-centres.
Update: COVID-19 wastewater detections in Victoria
The Department is continuing to identify unexpected detections of COVID-19 fragments in wastewater in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria in areas that have not recorded recent positive cases. Current areas of concern are:
Regional catchments
· Shepparton – three repeat detections in the period of interest 9-16 August
· Lakes Entrance – detection in the period of interest between 8-11 August
Metro catchments - residential
· Western suburbs: New detections reported in the suburbs of Albion, Braybrook, Footscray, Seddon, St Albans, Sunshine, Sunshine North, Sunshine West, Tottenham and West Footscray – detections in the period of interest 15-17 August.
· Collingwood – a new detection linked to the public housing tower at 240 Wellington St, Collingwood with period of interest 15-18 Aug. It has been designated a tier 2 exposure site.
· South-eastern suburbs including Dingley Village, Keysborough, Noble Park, Springvale and Springvale South, five repeat detections in period of interest 11-18 August
Metro catchments - industrial
· Sunshine West – repeated strong detections in the period of interest 8-18 August. The Department is working with local businesses to support with testing.
The Sunshine West industrial area is bounded by the Western Ring Road to the west, the Glengala Drain to the north, Kororoit Creek to the east and Industrial and Proximity Drive to the south.
Based on the strength and frequency of these repeat detections it is likely that someone who works in this industrial area has coronavirus. Anyone who works or have visited that area between 8 and 18 August is encouraged to come forward for testing, even if they are not showing symptoms.
The wastewater testing program provides an early warning system at a population level and a cautious approach is always taken when these detections are found.
In the past week wastewater testing has provided an early warning in three different metropolitan locations prompting additional individual testing and identification of cases.
More information is available at https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/wastewater-testing-covid-19
Update: Testing
In a strong day for testing, 49,607 tests were processed in Victoria yesterday with 99.1 per cent of test results available by the next day.
More than 500,000 tests have been conducted since the current outbreak began on 4 August.
See new and extended testing sites, where to get tested and expected wait times at https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/where-get-tested-covid-19.
Update: Extended lockdown
Strengthened extensions to Victoria’s lockdown are in effect.
To see more information, visit https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/coronavirus-covidsafe-settings
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 https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au
Media enquiries: Department of Health Media Unit (03) 9096 8860 or press@dhhs.vic.gov.au
Media Release Attachment - CHO release - COVID-19 - 19 August 2021.pdf [Word, 187271 Bytes]
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