Victoria has recorded 12 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19, as the state enters what residents hope will be the final weekend of its fifth lockdown.
Key points:
- Ten of the 12 locally acquired cases were in isolation for their entire infectious period
- Victoria's traffic light system has been upgraded to include 'extreme risk zones'
- More than 19,000 vaccine doses were administered on Friday
The cases are all linked to the current outbreaks.
Victoria's health department has confirmed that 10 of the 12 cases were in quarantine throughout their entire infectious period, with just two cases infectious while in the community.
Health Minister Martin Foley said the two were only active in the community for "less than a day", and he thanked those people who isolated as soon as they found out they were close contacts.
"We still know that there are chains of transmission in our community. Yes, they are all linked, that's positive, but they are still there and that's a risk," he said.
There was concern earlier in the outbreak about how many people had moved around the community before testing positive, but the number has been trending down in recent days.
Mr Foley said that gave public health officials "confidence" ahead of a scheduled easing of the lockdown from 11:59pm on Tuesday.
But the number of people with COVID-19 in hospital has risen, with 10 cases now hospitalised.
That includes three people in an intensive care unit — one of whom is currently on a ventilator.
There were 39,846 test results received on Friday, with 19,281 vaccine doses administered at state-run clinics.
There have been 159 confirmed coronavirus cases linked to the current local outbreaks, all of which have the Delta strain of the virus.
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New alert level added to state's traffic light system
In the wake of New South Wales' climbing COVID-19 case numbers, Victoria's Chief Health Officer has toughened up Victoria's hard border with the state by upgrading the state's travel permit system to include "extreme risk zones".
It follows a ramping up of rhetoric about a fear of "incursions" from New South Wales, with Premier Daniel Andrews yesterday pushing National Cabinet for a harder border around Sydney.
A "ring of steel" was in place around Melbourne for last year's extended stage 4 lockdown, on top of the 5-kilometre radius rule and a curfew.
But the police association in Victoria has called the police checkpoints ineffective and a waste of resources, and the measures have not been brought back in subsequent lockdowns.
Victoria's travel permit system will now designate areas across Australia and New Zealand as green, orange, red or extreme risk zones.
The change came into effect at midnight last night, with New South Wales declared an extreme risk zone.
It means those entering Victoria under that classification without an exemption will be put on a return flight or placed into 14 days mandatory hotel quarantine.
Victorians returning from a red zone who have been in an extreme risk zone in the past 14 days can only enter with an exemption or another valid permit.
Exemptions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, with fines of up to $5,452 issued to those who fail to comply.
Returning residents with a red zone permit must self-quarantine for 14 days on arrival. Testing on day three and again on day 13 of the quarantine period is mandatory.
The "extreme risk zone" declaration has been backdated for 14 days from July 9.
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Victoria records 12 new local cases of COVID-19, two in the community during infectious period - ABC News
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