Lockdown to end for regional Victoria as state records 11 new local COVID-19 cases

Regional Victoria's lockdown will end at 11:59pm on Monday night and return to the COVID-safe settings in place prior to the state's sixth lockdown.

Health workers started administering jabs at a drive-through COVID-19 vaccine hub in Melton, Melbourne, on Monday, 9 August, 2021.

Health workers started administering jabs at a drive-through COVID-19 vaccine hub in Melton, Melbourne, on Monday, 9 August, 2021. Source: AAP

Regional Victoria will be released from lockdown at 11:59pm on Monday night.

Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the regions will return to the COVID-safe settings in place prior to the state's sixth lockdown, meaning schools, retail and hospitality can reopen.

Home visits will remain banned, while masks will still be compulsory both indoors and outdoors.

"There is a degree of localisation if you like to these cases," Mr Andrews told reporters on Monday, as the state recorded 11 new locally acquired cases.

"Pleasingly we haven't seen cases in regional Victoria over these last four or five days."
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said while there were a few close contacts self-isolating in regional Victoria, there were no new exposure sites or recent wastewater detections of COVID-19.

The government had used detections of COVID-19 in wastewater in Wangaratta, some 236 kilometres northeast of Melbourne, as a justification for a statewide lockdown.

"You've got to take a conservative approach, particularly with (the) Delta (variant)," Mr Andrews said.

"The advice was to lock everything down."
People from regional Victoria will only be able to travel to Melbourne for a permitted reason and must follow the city's restrictions when in town.

Businesses that are open in regional Victoria but closed in Melbourne, such as restaurants and beauty salons, must check the IDs of everyone they serve.

Roving police patrols will check compliance.

The state's 11 new COVID-19 cases are all linked to the Hobsons Bay outbreak.

They include seven cases linked to Caroline Springs Shopping Centre, a coach and player at Newport Football Club, a household contact of a Newport family and a student at Al-Taqwa College.
One case was in quarantine throughout their infectious period and Mr Andrews anticipates this trend will continue.

"We're starting to see now the first of the new cases coming through that have been tucked away, no risk to public health, they've been in iso for 100 per cent of their infectious period. That's the system working as it should," he said.

Some 38,987 tests were processed in the 24 hours to Monday morning, while 17,101 Victorians received a COVID-19 vaccine at one of the state-run hubs.

There are now more than 170 exposure sites across the state, including the Joan Kirner Women's and Children's Hospital in St Albans, which was visited by a positive case for six hours on Friday.

The state's vaccination program has also ramped up, with Australia's first drive-through clinic opened at a former Bunnings warehouse in Melton.
A drive-through COVID-19 vaccine hub opened in Melton, Melbourne, on Monday, 9 August, 2021.
A drive-through COVID-19 vaccine hub opened in Melton, Melbourne, on Monday, 9 August, 2021. Source: AAP
It is initially expected to administer 10,000 vaccine doses a week, with hopes it will be the first in a series of drive-through hubs.

All Victorian adults will also have the opportunity to get the AstraZeneca jab at nine of the state's mass vaccination centres from Monday, while children aged 12-15 with underlying health conditions or of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent will be allowed to receive Pfizer doses.


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3 min read
Published 9 August 2021 8:44am
Updated 9 August 2021 1:01pm
Source: AAP, SBS



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