Victoria records 733 new local Covid-19 cases as infections surge towards 1000 a day

Victoria has recorded 733 new local Covid-19 cases on Friday as experts warn infections show no sign of slowing down.

Victoria has recorded 733 new locally acquired cases on Friday as Melbourne’s sixth lockdown continues to have no impact on slowing surging infections.

One new death was also announced by the health department on Friday, a woman in her 80s from Moreland.

It takes the death toll of the outbreak to 21, and the number of Victorians who have lost their lives to Covid-19 to 841.

Experts have warned that infections will continue to surge and Victoria will soon join NSW in recording daily increased above 1000.

University of Sydney Professor Robert Booy said it was worrying and he fears Victorian cases are heading out of control.

“It’s a worry, it’s not in control and it’s a real lesson to everyone else,” he told The Today Show on Friday.

“I can see this going to 1000 just as NSW did - peaking at a largish number and falling again.

“The go hard, go early approach hasn’t worked because Delta is such a foe.”

Positive cases continue to rise across Victoria. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton has also warned infections haven’t peaked and will continue to rise.

“We haven’t peaked unfortunately,” Professor Sutton said last week.

“The risk of it getting to 1000 is real.

“The modelling and everything we know in relation to our current vaccination coverage would suggest that cases will continue to increase – vaccination alone won’t mean that there’s a peak at the 400s.”

The health department confirmed the 733 new locally acquired cases about 9am, which comes after the highest daily spike Victoria has seen since the start of the pandemic with 766 new infections announced on Thursday.

“I can see this going to 1,000 just as NSW did peaking out at a largish number and falling again.”

Professor Robert Booy says Victoria’s #COVID19 crisis will follow a similar trajectory to NSW as case numbers continue to rise. #9Todaypic.twitter.com/GgLMdpXpyc

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) September 23, 2021

The virus continues to spread rapidly through Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs with 83 per cent of new cases originating from those areas.

About 84 per cent of all active cases in Victoria are people under 50 years of age, while almost a quarter of cases are people in their 20s.

No new cases were recorded in hotel quarantine on Friday. More than 23,200 primary close contacts remain in isolation in Victoria.

There are now 7160 active cases in the state.

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Originally published as Victoria records 733 new local Covid-19 cases as infections surge towards 1000 a day