Victoria records 37,169 new COVID-19 cases, as national virus death tally climbs

Victoria has recorded 37,169 new COVID-19 cases and 25 deaths as isolation requirements relax for critical workers and new virus restrictions kick in across the state.

Thursday’s figures bring the official number of active coronavirus cases in Victoria to 221,726 and mark one of the deadliest days of the pandemic in Australia.

NSW recorded 22 deaths (and 92,264 new coronavirus cases) on Thursday, Queensland had six deaths (14,914 cases) and South Australia 4 deaths (3669 cases), taking the national tally of COVID-19 associated deaths to 57. There were 49 deaths recorded nationally on Wednesday and 59 on September 4, 2020, however, 53 of those came from delayed reporting of aged care deaths.

Of the 25 deaths announced by Victoria, 18 took place over the previous two days and seven were historic fatalities that occurred in December but were only recently reported to the Department of Health. All those who died were aged 60 and over.

More than 20,300 new cases recorded in Victoria on Thursday came from PCR tests, while 16,843 were self-reported from rapid antigen tests.

The number of people in hospital in Victoria with COVID-19 rose to an all-time high of 953, up from 946 on Wednesday. There were 111 people in intensive care and 29 on a ventilator.

New pandemic orders, now in force, mean workers in food and beverage manufacturing, packing, and distribution are allowed to keep going to work even after they become a close contact of a COVID-19 case.

The Victorian government announced Thursday that several other workers would also be given exemption from COVID-19 close contact isolation requirements from 11.59pm on Tuesday, January 18.

Premier Daniel Andrews told media the list of workers eligible under those exemptions would expand to include those in emergency services, education, critical utilities, custodial facilities, transport, and freight.

“If they’re playing a critical role, they will be exempt from having to do home [isolation],” Mr Andrews said.

“They will need to take a [rapid antigen test] for five days and if that is negative, then they can proceed to do that critical work that we need them to do.”

The exemptions will apply only if it “is necessary for continuity of operations and if other options have been exhausted”, but do not apply outside of work hours or to anyone who has COVID-19 symptoms. The workers are required to be masked at all times and obey other conditions.

The changes to isolation requirements are designed to keep critical industries in motion, by ensuring workers without COVID-19 symptoms can keep doing their jobs and are not sidelined simply because they’ve had contact with a virus carrier.

Mr Andrews said it was important to keep healthy truck drivers working, noting supermarket shelves had run empty in recent days because of delivery bottlenecks.

Retail supermarket workers are among those who may keep working if they are a close contact of a COVID-19 case, under new pandemic orders that came into effect at 11.59pm on Wednesday.

“This week’s challenge has been more about truck drivers and just not having enough truck drivers to move product from one part of the state to the other, or from different parts of the country,” the premier said.

“So we’re working with them in every way we possibly can to try and support them.”

Mr Andrews also said COVID-19 booster vaccination clinics would run inside supermarkets, with authorities to bring the supply to them.

“Last year, we did a fair bit of this; this will be even more because we’ve got supply this year, whereas last year, we had some supply issues,” he said.

“We’ll provide them with the supply. They will most likely engage a private provider to administer the vaccines, we don’t have the staff to do it ourselves ... [that’s] something that we’ve agreed to do.”

The premier did not say when the supermarket booster clinics would be established.

He said it was an employer’s responsibility to provide rapid antigen tests needed for isolation exemptions, but, given their scarcity, some businesses would not have access to them.

The premier said accessibility to rapid antigen tests would be up for discussion at Thursday’s national cabinet meeting, while state COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said about 65,000 rapid antigen tests were handed out at PCR-testing centres in the state on Wednesday.

He said more than half the Victorians who had a PCR test were getting their result the next day and about 70 per cent of results were delivered within 48 hours.

“We still have more work to do,” Mr Weimar said. “It’s still somewhere short of the standards that we think we should be at.

“That slow recovery over the last seven days is directly associated with the introduction of rapid antigen testing into our testing centres”.

Farmers have pleaded with the federal government to increase the supply of rapid antigen tests to the agriculture sector to relieve pressure on supply chains, while Mr Andrews said Victoria was hoping for 2.5 million rapid antigen tests from the national medical stockpile.

Other issues expected to be discussed at national cabinet was on Thursday included federal rules for critical workers, along with lifting restrictions on working hours for temporary migrants.

New vaccine mandates also came into effect in Victoria at midnight on Wednesday for critical workers, and there are new rules for visitors to hospitals and aged care facilities.

Aged care residents are only allowed up to five visitors a day if their guests can show negative rapid antigen test results. Visitors to hospitals have to be fully vaccinated, or show proof of a negative rapid test result, and wear an N95 mask in a facility.

Indoor dance floors at hospitality and entertainment venues, except for at weddings, were also banned from 11.59pm on Wednesday.

It was another big day for COVID-19 testing in Victoria on Wednesday, with 62,406 tests processed at PCR sites. At least five PCR sites across the state were at full capacity and forced to temporarily close by about 8.15am on Thursday.

More than 24,800 Victorians rolled up their sleeves to get vaccinated against the virus at state-run centres on Wednesday.

Mr Andrews said about 60 per cent of Victorians who were eligible to receive a booster vaccination were yet to get one. Just over one million Victorians over the age of 18 have received the third shot to date, the equivalent to 19.9 per cent of those eligible.

He said about 5500 Victorian children aged between five and 11 received a paediatric COVID-19 vaccination in the state-run system on Wednesday and there were nearly 48,000 appointments available for more children to get their jabs, in addition to those free at general practitioners and local pharmacies.

The proportion of Victoria’s population aged over 12 who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine stands at 93 per cent, while 20 per cent of over-18s in the state have received a booster dose.

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