Victoria has recorded 766 new local cases of COVID-19 and four deaths.
Key points:
- The state is inching closer to a target of having 70 per cent of people over 16 vaccinated
- Ballarat has come out of a one-week lockdown, but masks must still be worn indoors and outdoors
- All staff in schools and early childhood settings will now need to be fully vaccinated before the end of November
It is the highest single-day tally ever recorded in Victoria.
The new infections were detected from 62,408 test results processed on Wednesday.
There were 40,957 doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered at state-run sites.
Victoria has now reached 74.4 per cent first dose vaccination coverage and at least 45.2 per cent double dose.
Melbourne has now experienced the world's longest lockdown, reaching 235 days.
The city is expected to be in lockdown until late October, when it is forecast that 70 per cent of the 16-plus population will have had two doses. Greater freedoms will be granted only after an 80 per cent target is met.
That will mean the city will be in lockdown for 267 days in total, which will surpass the lockdown lengths of other cities like Buenos Aires by 22 days, Dublin by 40 days and London by 60 days.
According to Burnet Institute modelling underpinning the plan, Victoria is expected to hit a peak of between 1,400 and 2,900 daily cases between October 19 and 31.
Yesterday, Education Minister James Merlino announced all staff in schools and early childhood settings will need to be fully vaccinated before the end of November, unless they have a medical exemption.
The first dose is required by October 18, and the second by November 29.
It comes as the City of Ballarat wakes to its first morning out of lockdown for a week.
The region now aligns with the rest of the state — barring locked-down Melbourne, Geelong, Surf Coast and Mitchell Shire — and masks must still be worn indoors and outdoors.
The town of Point Lonsdale, which is divided between the City of Greater Geelong and the Borough of Queenscliffe, has also come out of lockdown to unite with the Borough of Queenscliffe, which is currently not included in Geelong's lockdown.
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Victoria records 766 new local cases of COVID-19 and four deaths as Melbourne clocks up world's longest lockdown - ABC News
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