Victoria Covid death toll: Brimbank, Casey record highest number of deaths

New data reveals the areas where the most Covid deaths have been recorded this year, with the tragic death toll continuing to rise.

More than 800 Victorians have died with Covid since March. Stock photo.

Brimbank and Casey have recorded the highest number of Covid deaths in Victoria this year, new data reveals.

The local government areas in Melbourne’s north west and south east have each recorded 86 Covid deaths since the start of the year, according to figures from the Victorian Health Department.

Brimbank is home to suburbs such as Deer Park, Keilor, St Albans and Sunshine, while Casey is home to a number of rapidly growing suburbs including Cranbourne, Berwick and Narre Warren.

Monash recorded the second highest number of fatalities (84), followed by the City of Whittlesea (79), Darebin (77), Greater Dandenong (71) and Hume (64).

There have been 1,645 Covid deaths in total in Victoria since the beginning of the year.

According to the Health Department, age, vaccination status, waning immunity and comorbidities all contribute to a person’s risk of death from Covid, as does the severity of any given variant, such as Delta or Omicron.

The state continues to invest in culturally specific and in-language messaging to reach diverse and hard-to-reach populations.

“Our heartfelt sympathies go out to all the families and friends who have lost loved ones to COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic,” a Department of Health spokesman said.

“Victoria has introduced a range of measures – such as targeted pop-up vaccination sites, local public health units and the Covid Positive Pathways program – to help people stay safe from COVID-19 and support their recovery if infected.

“The best thing Victorians can do to protect themselves from COVID-19 is to get their third dose as soon as they’re eligible.”

New data from the Department also reveals thousands of Victorians have caught Covid for a second time.

Since the pandemic began in January 2020, there have been 20,043 known Covid reinfections in Victoria, with most people catching the virus again this year.

From December 22, 2021 to mid-May 2022, there have been 19,934 known reinfections.