VICTORIA has recorded twenty-nine new locally acquired COVID-19 infections, with at least three schools listed as exposure sites.<\/p>\n
Health authorities say all the cases are linked to current outbreaks but were not in quarantine during their infectious periods.<\/p>\n
The tally, from 43,618 test results, is nearly five-fold that of the tally on Friday when six cases were reported.<\/p>\n
The state is now managing 97 active cases.<\/p>\n
State facilities administered 22,600 vaccine doses in the 24 hours to Friday evening.<\/p>\n
Victorians are bracing for more exposure sites spread across wider parts of the state amid the race to contain the Delta variant.<\/p>\n
More than 10,000 close contacts of positive cases are now isolating with more than 75 venues listed as exposure sites.<\/p>\n
That includes two tier one sites listed on Friday – a medical centre and a pathology collection centre, both in Caroline Springs.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Al-Taqwa College, the centre of an outbreak during Victoria’s second wave, has also reported a case in a staffer.<\/p>\n
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 .<\/p>\n
“I know that the school community is shattered by this development,” Dr Marzouk said.<\/p>\n
COVID-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar warned Victorians the number of exposure sites would continue to grow.<\/p>\n
“We’ll see exposure sites start to spread across wider parts of the city and potentially regional Victoria,” he said.<\/p>\n
The statewide seven-day lockdown began at 8pm on Thursday, with the same stay-home rules that applied during last month’s lockdown reimposed.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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