Victoria records 1461 new cases as further easing of restrictions announced

For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here.

Victoria has recorded 1461 new cases of coronavirus and seven deaths as the state government revealed more restrictions will lift on Friday night.

The 1461 new cases recorded on Monday were detected among 56,905 test results, and there are now 24,831 active cases across the state. On Sunday, 1935 cases and 11 deaths were recorded.

Melburnians eat out again as the city reopens.Credit:Getty

A total of 802 people are in hospital with the COVID-19, of which 152 are in intensive care and 92 are ventilated. It was an increase in the number of people in hospital with the virus in Victoria and takes the seven-day hospitalisation average to 792.

A total of 74 per cent Victorians over the age of 16 are now fully vaccinated.

From 6pm on Friday, Victorians will be allowed to travel across the state, density limits at hospitality venues will increase only for fully vaccinated people, retail centres will reopen and masks will no longer be required outdoors, in time for the Melbourne Cup long weekend when 80 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and over will have had two vaccine doses.

Students will get an extra few days at school when face-to-face learning resumes for all year levels from Monday, November 1, four days ahead of schedule.

Universities, swimming pools, nightclubs and gyms will reopen, restaurants can have more diners inside, outdoor stadiums can welcome up to 5000 vaccinated people, and crowds at weddings and funerals will be permitted from Friday as Victoria moves beyond “locking people down to locking people out”.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday warned unvaccinated adults and older children will be barred from accessing all but basic services until 2023 under the Victorian government’s path back to freedom announced on Sunday.

He said the public health team was only confident in dropping almost all restrictions at 90 per cent because of large-scale vaccination requirements well into next year.

The Premier said his government would not be looking at pausing the road map out of restrictions even if daily cases continued to climb and the pressure on the healthcare system increased, saying there was no better protection against the virus than vaccination.

Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.Credit:Chris Hopkins

On Sunday, part of the third level of the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne was listed as an exposure site after someone with coronavirus visited for over an hour last week.

The Recovery Parent Waiting Room on the third level of the hospital, located on Flemington Road in Parkville, has been listed as a Tier 1 exposure site. This means anyone who was there on October 18 between 1.51pm and 3.40pm must get tested immediately and quarantine for seven days since exposure if fully vaccinated, or 14 days if not fully vaccinated.

The hospital was also listed as an exposure site less than two weeks ago, when dozens of sick and vulnerable babies were plunged into isolation with their parents after a father visited his sick child on the neonatal intensive care ward while unknowingly infectious with COVID-19.

The hospital’s chief executive, Bernadette McDonald, said at the time the hospital would respond by introducing rapid antigen testing for all visitors.

She said visitors would need to get tested when entering the hospital and return a negative result before being allowed into clinical wards.

There were a number of other exposure sites listed across regional Victoria on Sunday, including in Coldstream, Traralgon, Mildura and Bendigo.

The full list of exposure sites can be found here.

With Aisha Dow

Most Viewed in National

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post 4,000 troops are on standby to help the NHS cope this winter
Next post The Band To Release 50th Anniversary Editions Of Cahoots