Source: 9news
Victoria has recorded 73 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, with 52 so far linked to existing outbreaks.
During the same time period, more than 41,000 people came forward to get tested and 26,700 vaccines were administered.
The number of exposure sites has now blown out to almost 940 with 85 new venues added by Victorian health authorities last night.
The new exposure sites are all listed as tier-2 or casual contact locations, which means anyone who visited them during the listed time frames are required to get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Among the new sites are several supermarkets, petrol stations, an aged care centre in Echuca and an apartment complex in West Melbourne.
Today’s figures come as a glimmer of hope is being offered with the state government reportedly considering easing two small, but key, restrictions.
Reopening playgrounds and allowing year 12 students back into the classroom are both options being discussed by senior government ministers, The Age reports.
The announcement, if it comes, would bring some much-needed relief to parents and senior high school students in the face of yet another prolonged lockdown.
Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed yesterday the state’s lockdown will be extended past Thursday.
Mr Andrews stopped short of announcing how long exactly the lockdown will be extended for but said another update can be expected later this week.
His comments came after 92 locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Victoria on Sunday.
It is the largest number of daily cases the state has seen since September 2, last year.
Of the 92 new cases, only 63 are linked to known clusters and the source of 29 are still under investigation.
Meanwhile, vaccine supply is being fast-tracked to the state, according to Mr Andrews, after the prioritising of vaccines to Sydney came to an end as of yesterday. So far, 34.2 percent of Victorians have been fully vaccinated.
