Authorities have warned unvaccinated Victorians "the rest of us are not going to stop" as the state prepares to hit its 80 and 90 per cent reopening targets before Christmas.
Key points:
- Victoria has recorded 1,534 new cases and the seven-day average has continued to fall
- The death toll from the current Delta outbreak in Victoria has grown to 247
- Only 83 per cent of Victorians in their 20s have received one dose of vaccine
The state's COVID-19 outbreak appears to be "plateauing", but there are concerns about comparatively low vaccination rates among people aged in their 20s.
Victoria has recorded 1,534 new local COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths as the state moves closer to fully vaccinating 80 per cent of its population aged 16 and over.
There are now 24,164 active cases of the virus, and 247 people have died during the current Delta outbreak.
The deaths include people aged from their 30s to their 90s.
There are now 748 people in hospital with COVID-19, of whom 138 are in intensive care, and 87 are on a ventilator.
The new cases were detected from 83,210 test results received yesterday.
Victoria's COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said it appeared new cases were "plateauing" but there was an increase of cases in regional areas.
"If we look at our Burnet modelling of where we expect case numbers to be, although we expect case numbers to ease off a bit over coming days we are expecting them to rise and they will rise amongst the unvaccinated," he said.
Mr Weimar urged people in younger age groups who had not yet been vaccinated to do so, saying only 83 per cent of people aged in their 20s had so far had their first dose.
"The rest of us are not going to stop," he said.
He said 85 per cent of the new cases identified yesterday were people who were not vaccinated.
There were 24,180 doses of vaccine administered at state-run sites, and more vaccinations at GP clinics and other venues.
Victoria is expected to reach the 80 per cent fully vaccinated milestone by Friday, triggering the further easing of restrictions across the state.
Unvaccinated customers will be allowed to enter non-essential retail venues from Friday until the "vaccinated economy" settings kick in when Victoria reaches the 90 per cent full-vaccination benchmark.
"We are sending out a very clear signal that says if you are going to be active in these kind of retail environments post-90 per cent you will need to get vaccinated," Mr Weimar said.
As the state begins its recovery from the financially bruising pandemic, an Auditor-General report has produced mixed findings on the way billions of dollars was spent by the government.
In the report released today, the audit found all departments made extraordinary efforts to respond to COVID-19, but many had incomplete and missing documentation and did not always address conflicts of interest.
The report made 16 recommendations to improve fraud and corruption management and better review risks in grant programs and financial reporting.
Unvaccinated tennis players will be allowed in says PM
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed tennis players who are not vaccinated will be allowed to travel to Melbourne for the Australian Open, but will be subjected to two weeks quarantine.
The Prime Minister's comments contradict those of Federal Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, who said last week that tennis players would have to be fully vaccinated.
Mr Morrison said tennis players would be subject to the same requirements as other international visitors.
"The same rules apply to everyone, whether you're a Grand Slam winner, a prime minister, a business traveller, a student or whoever. Same rules," he told Channel Seven.
The Prime Minister also said he expected international tourists to return to Australia before the end of the year.
Premier Daniel Andrews said Victoria would not be applying for any exemptions for unvaccinated players.
"I'm not very well going to say to people that they can't go to the pub tonight unless they're double vaxxed, but certain high-profile people who choose not to be vaccinated, I'm not going to be facilitating them coming here," he said.
"There's an issue of consistency here, again I was perfectly supportive of Minister Hawke's view which I took to be the view of the federal government. It appears that's not the case."
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Victoria records 1,534 new local COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths - ABC News
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