| 12 August 2021
21 | 2 | 0 | 137 | 0 | 45,408 | 8,693,844 |
Cases locally acquired | Cases acquired interstate | Cases acquired overseas | Active cases | Lives lost | Tests processed yesterday | Total tests since pandemic began |
3,168,958 | 6,606 | 4.59 |
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 23 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday which includes 21 locally acquired cases and two cases acquired interstate.
There are 137 active cases in Victoria – 135 locally acquired and two overseas acquired cases.
There are two COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria.
The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 21,083. Four historic cases have been reclassified.
Update: Outbreaks
Of the 21 new locally acquired cases, 15 have been in quarantine throughout their infectious period.
The locally acquired cases are:
Ten cases linked to Al Taqwa College – a household of six people including three staff members of the college, three household contacts including one student and one additional household contact
Four cases linked to the City of Hobson’s Bay outbreak – one player and three contacts of existing cases
Three cases linked to the Caroline Springs Square shopping centre – all are household contacts of existing cases
One case lives in West Brunswick with the acquisition source under investigation
Three cases in two separate households in Glenroy are not yet linked to known outbreaks and are also under investigation.
There are two interstate acquired cases who arrived on a flight from Sydney on Monday 9 August and attempted to enter Victoria on a green zone permit. They were questioned by authorised officers at the airport, immediately transferred to hotel quarantine and have been fined. They tested positive yesterday.
All 46 passengers on Qantas flight QF471 have been contacted and advised to immediately isolate, get tested and remain in isolation for 14 days.
Since 12 July, more than 6000 passengers have arrived in Victoria from zones requiring specific permits or exemptions and have been checked at the airport. Of those, 190 people arrived without the appropriate permissions and were placed into hotel quarantine and 65 were placed on flights back to their point of department.
There are now more than 13,700 active primary close contacts across Victoria.
There are more than 340 exposure sites in Victoria and that number continues to grow.
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: Restrictions
Due to the current level of community transmission of COVID-19 in Victoria, the government yesterday announced an extension of the current lockdown measures.
For more information, see https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/extended-melbourne-lockdown-keep-victorians-safe
At 11:59pm Monday 9 August, restrictions eased in regional Victoria.
For more information, see https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/lockdown-lift-regional-victoria.
Some businesses can remain open under restrictions. If their employees are unable to work from home, they can leave home to attend work.
Additions have been made to the Authorised Premises and Authorised Worker List that allow businesses with an ABN to provide services that operate solely outdoors, where physical distancing can be maintained at all times: up to five people (with an additional supervisor) for outdoor maintenance, repairs, cleaning and other building work, home renovations and installations (outdoor only) and home solar panel installations (outdoor and roof cavities with external access only).
Pet grooming mobile services can be undertaken in a contactless manner and operate solely outdoors where physical distancing can be maintained at all times. Pamphlets and advertising material delivery services to solely outdoor mailboxes are also permitted for up to five people for businesses with an ABN.
Where a cross-border community area is designated an extreme risk zone, cross-border community members aged 18 years and above will require a permit to enter Victoria from 6:00pm on Friday 13 August. Permits last for 14 days – you won’t need a new one every time you cross and it allows for multiple entries.
Cross border community residents must carry a valid permit when entering from an extreme risk zone. The six reasons why residents can cross the border remain the same. Permits are available from the Service Victoria website www.service.vic.gov.au and via the Service Victoria app.
Update: Vaccinations
Yesterday, 25,418 vaccine doses were administered by Victoria’s state-commissioned services.
The total number of doses administered through these services is 1,868,317.
Victorians aged between 18 and 39 can attend a state-run vaccination centre to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine should they provide informed consent.
Over the past three days, 9600 people have received their first dose of AstraZeneca, which is a three-fold increase on last week. There are 11,600 bookings in the system for the rest of this week for the first dose of AstraZeneca.
There are still around 240,000 vaccination bookings available for the next four weeks. Anyone who is eligible for vaccination is urged to come forward and book in.
There are 50 open access vaccination centres operating across Victoria.
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: Testing
A total of 45,408 tests were processed in Victoria yesterday.
Testing capacity has been increased in Caroline Springs, Maidstone, Plumpton, St Albans, Sunshine West and Sydenham and a new testing site has opened today at the Melton Seniors Community and Learning Centre.
There has been an excellent response to testing from the people of the western suburbs with a three-fold increase in testing in key western areas in the past week. On Tuesday this week, 6643 tests were undertaken in Melton comparted to 814 on the same day last week – an eight-fold increase.
We have had an average pf around 39,000 tests a day over the past week. Demand for testing is busiest in the morning so people are encouraged to check the website for testing centre waiting times and choose a nearby testing site that has the best capacity.
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: New COVID-19 wastewater detections
The Department has been advised of new, unexpected detections of COVID-19 fragments in wastewater in metropolitan Melbourne.
The detections are in the eastern suburbs in the Camberwell-Balwyn area and two adjacent catchments in the western suburbs including Tarneit, Truganina and Williams Landing.
Anyone who lives, works or have visited the following areas on the dates listed below is urged to watch for the slightest symptoms of COVID-19 and to get tested as soon as possible if symptoms develop:
· Balwyn, Camberwell, Canterbury, Mont Albert and Surrey Hills, 8-11 August (after prior detections between the 25 - 29 August and 2-4 August)
· Tarneit, Truganina, Williams Landing, 8-11 August
We continue to see positive wastewater detections in the Glenroy-Broadmeadows catchment and yesterday three positive COVID-19 cases were discovered in that area.
The catchment includes the following suburbs: Attwood, Broadmeadows, Coolaroo, Essendon Fields, Gladstone Park, Glenroy, Gowanbrae, Greenvale, Jacana, Meadows Heights, Oak Park, Pascoe Vale, Roxburgh Park, Strathmore, Strathmore Heights and Westmeadows.
Anyone who lives, works or has visited the above suburbs needs to get tested as soon as any COVID-19 symptoms develop.
There are 23 testing sites across the northern suburbs within a 10-kilometre radius of Glenroy where people can get tested.
Repeated wastewater detections in the Keysborough area indicate there may be undetected positive cases of COVID-19 in that catchment.
Anyone who lives, works or have visited Keysborough between the 1st and 6th of August is urged to watch for COVID-19 symptoms and get tested should symptoms develop.
Recent wastewater detections in Victoria have been an early warning signal of positive cases appearing in areas, such as Phillip Island in regional areas and multiple metropolitan locations, so people in areas with recent wastewater detections need to be especially vigilant in getting tested should they develop even the mildest of symptoms.
In the past month in regional Victoria, positive readings for COVID-19 wastewater fragments have been detected in Bacchus Marsh, Benalla, Bendigo, Black Rock, Healesville, Koorlong, Somers and Wangaratta. Those in Benalla, Healesville and Wangaratta are not consistent with known cases and wastewater monitoring has been intensified with no further viral traces found to date.
The wastewater testing program is designed as an early warning system and a cautious approach is always taken when these detections are found.
The Department of Health has increased wastewater testing in the areas listed above and will continue to monitor the situation closely.
More information is available at: https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/wastewater-testing-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 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 - 12 August 2021 .pdf [Word, 178233 Bytes]
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