Victoria records 392 new local Covid-19 cases as unlinked cases spike, most cases in under 50s

Health authorities are warning of a growing outbreak at a school in Melbourne with “urgent investigations” as Victoria’s Delta outbreak rises.

Authorities are working to identify the close contacts of nearly 400 new Covid-19 cases with young people continuing to be the worst hit in the Victorian outbreak, as authorities urge people under 50 to get vaccinated urgently.

Victoria recorded another 392 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday morning, as the state’s vaccination rate climbs higher.

It comes as health authorities warn of a “emerging significant outbreak” at the Fitzroy Community School in North Fitzroy in Melbourne’s north.

Deputy chief health officer Dan O’Brien said “urgent further investigations” are underway after latest numbers indicate at least 30 cases involving students and staff at the primary school.

More than 75 per cent of Victoria’s active Covid-19 cases are people under the age of 50. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Of the 3112 active cases across Victoria, 85 per cent are under the age of 50.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the statistic was a reminder that the virus “is everybody’s business”.

“This is something that is really targeting, if you like, those who are not vaccinated,” Mr Andrews said on Sunday.

“That is the nature of a pandemic of the unvaccinated.

“That group is still too big for us to be able to open up, but as we slowly decrease the number of people who have not been vaccinated, so to get vaccination levels … to hit 70 and 80 per cent thresholds, there are more options of course.

“ … Every single Victorian has a stake in this.”

Just 107 of Sunday’s cases have been linked to existing outbreaks and cases, suggesting contact tracers are struggling to keep up with the surge.

More than 36,000 vaccines were administered on Saturday, and 48,063 tests were carried out.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has told every Victorian to come forward for a vaccine ‘now’. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

As of Sunday morning, 65 per cent of Victorians have had at least their first dose of vaccine.

In a bid to drive those numbers even higher, a number of pop-up vaccination centres will be set up across 100 postcodes of concern and at schools.

Mr Andrews said the pop-ups were about “removing another barrier … taking the vaccination to you”.

Five community-based pop-ups and eight schools will begin administering vaccinations over the next two weeks, with more to follow.

Community and school-based pop-up vaccination clinics will be set up in areas of concern. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Hume, Dendenong and Casey local government areas, which are all recording increasing numbers of cases, will have the first community-based clinics.

School-based clinics will be set up at Dandenong High School, Point Cook Secondary College, Gladstone Park Secondary College, Roxburgh College, Brunswick Secondary College, Tarneit Secondary College, Werribee Secondary College and Lakeview Senior College.

Authorities are hoping to have all students aged over 12 vaccinated by the end of the year.

Sunday’s numbers come as a leading epidemiologist told Nine Newspapers Victoria’s high case numbers were accelerating due to “lockdown fatigue and slow vaccine uptake”.

Reported yesterday: 392 new local cases and 0 cases acquired overseas.
- 36,534 vaccines administered
- 48,063 test results received

More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic#COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/BwAX6H3S6H

— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) September 11, 2021

“Victoria came in with a sledgehammer, but that still didn’t work,” Professor Catherine Bennett said.

“Every time my partner comes back from his hour of exercise or bike ride, he tells me he’s seen 40 people with no mask and 20 with a mask, so there’s this sense that even early in this lockdown it quickly looked a bit like the end of the last big lockdown.”

As of Sunday, 65 per cent of eligible Victorians have had one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Melbourne residents have been given no end date for their current lockdown, while locals in regional Victoria (excluding Shepparton) are enjoying their first free weekend after they were released from lockdown.

But, Ballarat residents are on high alert after Covid-19 fragments were found in wastewater.

Health Minister Martin Foley said on Saturday there was no plan to reintroduce lockdown measures in regional Victoria, despite eight new cases being recorded far from Melbourne earlier in the day.

Originally published as Victoria records 392 new local Covid-19 cases as unlinked cases spike, most cases in under 50s