29 new COVID-19 cases, none were in quarantine

VICTORIA has recorded twenty-nine new locally acquired COVID-19 infections, with at least three schools listed as exposure sites.

Health authorities say all the cases are linked to current outbreaks but were not in quarantine during their infectious periods.

The tally, from 43,618 test results, is nearly five-fold that of the tally on Friday when six cases were reported.

The state is now managing 97 active cases.

State facilities administered 22,600 vaccine doses in the 24 hours to Friday evening.

Victorians are bracing for more exposure sites spread across wider parts of the state amid the race to contain the Delta variant.

More than 10,000 close contacts of positive cases are now isolating with more than 75 venues listed as exposure sites.

That includes two tier one sites listed on Friday – a medical centre and a pathology collection centre, both in Caroline Springs.

Several schools were also added as tier two sites, including Heathdale Christian College in Werribee and Warringa Park School in Hoppers Crossing, after positive cases were found in students.

Al-Taqwa College, the centre of an outbreak during Victoria’s second wave, has also reported a case in a staffer.

Immunologist Sara Marzouk said she saw how stringent the Truginina school’s infection control protocols were when she spoke to VCE students before Victoria’s snap lockdown in June .

“I know that the school community is shattered by this development,” Dr Marzouk said.

COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar warned Victorians the number of exposure sites would continue to grow.

“We’ll see exposure sites start to spread across wider parts of the city and potentially regional Victoria,” he said.

The statewide seven-day lockdown began at 8pm on Thursday, with the same stay-home rules that applied during last month’s lockdown reimposed.

Health Minister Martin Foley warned the state was in “a precarious position” and said lockdowns would remain a feature of Australia’s public health response until enough of the population is vaccinated.

-BY AAP