Source: ABCnews
Victoria has recorded 1,656 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths, as the state prepares to move to the next stage of eased restrictions tonight.
The deaths take the total toll in the current Delta outbreak to 282.
There are now 23,730 active cases of COVID-19 in Victoria, with the latest cases detected from 70,180 test results.
Victoria has fully vaccinated 78.5 per cent of its population aged 16 and older, while 91.46 per cent have received at least one dose.
It is the fifth consecutive day the state’s seven-day average for daily COVID-19 cases has fallen, in a welcome sign that the late October peak in cases forecast by Burnet Institute modelling has occurred.
But the drop in cases is only expected to be temporary, with cases forecast to peak again in December and January.
Authorities are urging all Victorians to get the protection offered by full vaccination before then to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.
Acting Chief Health Officer Ben Cowie said on Thursday that 80 per cent of the COVID-19 patients in intensive care were completely unvaccinated.
From 6pm, all restrictions on travel between Melbourne and regional Victoria will lift and masks will no longer be required outdoors, if social distancing is possible.
The shift to an open, vaccinated economy is linked to the 80 per cent full-vaccination target in the state’s roadmap, but Premier Daniel Andrews acknowledged on Thursday that the precise point of 80 per cent vaccination may occur in the next day or so.
“We’re going to be quite close or as close as we can be, we’ll certainly tip over that mark over the course of the weekend,” he said.Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
