Victoria was notified of 1,749 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. All were locally acquired cases.
There are 22,476 active cases in Victoria.
There are 784 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria. 149 of those cases are in intensive care, with 100 cases on a ventilator.
Sadly, the Department was notified of 11 deaths yesterday.
This brings the total number of deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began to 981.
The total number of confirmed cases in Victoria since the beginning of the pandemic is 69,179.
Update: Border Permit changes
The Chief Health Officer has declared that at 11:59pm 19 October there will no longer be any red zones in New South Wales.
- All Local Government Areas in the Greater Sydney region - including Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Shellharbour and Wollongong - will become orange zones.
- All Local Government Areas in the remainder of regional New South Wales, plus Jervis Bay Territory, will move from red/orange zones to green zones.
- In addition, Broken Hill in New South Wales and Shepparton in Victoria will rejoin the New South Wales-Victoria cross-border community area.
- The ACT remains an orange zone.
These changes will come into effect at the same time as broader changes to Victoria's travel permit system announced last week: Permit overhaul to make safe border changes.
This means after 11:59pm tonight, if you have had two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and you have been in the Sydney area (which will become an orange zone), you can enter Victoria on an orange zone permit without any quarantine or testing requirements.
People who are not fully vaccinated entering on an orange zone permit must isolate on arrival, get tested within 72 hours, and stay isolated until they receive a negative result.
Information will be published online at Victorian Travel Permit System at 11:59pm when the changes are in effect.
Current border settings apply until this time. Current active red zone permit holders in Victoria will be considered orange zone permit holders at 11:59pm.
People travelling to Victoria must follow all Chief Health Officer Directions in place while in Victoria.
Restrictions
From 11:59pm Thursday 21 October, non-household primary close contacts (PCCs) who are fully vaccinated will only need to quarantine for 7 days. For more information, see Safe and sensible isolation changes as we hit 70 per cent.
Thanks to the incredible efforts of the Victorian people, lockdown (and the curfew) will lift in restricted areas across Victoria at 11:59pm Thursday 21 October.
For more information on eased restrictions across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria from this date, visit Victoria's Roadmap.
For information on current restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne, visit How we live: metropolitan Melbourne and Mildura Rural City Council.
Vaccines
Yesterday, 36,751 vaccine doses were administered by Victoria's state-commissioned services.
The total number of doses administered through state-run services is 4,234,036.
89.4 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and over have now had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 67.2 per cent have had two doses. This excludes most recent Commonwealth data.
New community pop-up vaccination sites will open this week offering walk-ups at the following locations:
- Victorian Pride Centre, St Kilda
- Queerspace, Carlton
- East Reservoir Senior Citizens Centre
- Our Lady Guardian of Plants Chaldean Catholic Church, Campbellfield
- Kingsbury Bowling Club
- Craigieburn Sports Stadium
- Fawkner Community Hall
- Sacred Heart Mission, St Kilda
- EACH Building, Yarra Junction
- Bunjil Place, Narre Warren
Victorians are encouraged to book their COVID-19 vaccination through their local GP or community pharmacy, community health service or state vaccination centre. To find a GP or pharmacy provider and make a booking, visit Australian Government Department of Health.
Outbreaks
Of the 1,749 locally acquired cases reported yesterday, the following Local Government Areas in metropolitan Melbourne recorded more than one newly diagnosed case:
- 25 cases in Banyule
- 22 cases in Bayside
- 4 cases in Boroondara
- 127 cases in Brimbank
- 20 cases in Cardinia
- 153 cases in Casey
- 77 cases in Darebin
- 40 cases in Frankston
- 25 cases in Glen Eira
- 132 cases in Greater Dandenong
- 25 cases in Hobsons Bay
- 145 cases in Hume
- 32 cases in Kingston
- 20 cases in Knox
- 21 cases in Manningham
- 37 cases in Maribyrnong
- 11 cases in Maroondah
- 62 cases in Melbourne
- 111 cases in Melton
- 19 cases in Monash
- 43 cases in Moonee Valley
- 68 cases in Moreland
- 19 cases in Mornington Peninsula
- 7 cases in Nillumbik
- 21 cases in Port Phillip
- 13 cases in Stonnington
- 15 cases in Whitehorse
- 135 cases in Whittlesea
- 122 cases in Wyndham
- 26 cases in Yarra
- 16 cases in Yarra Ranges
There were 483 new cases in Melbourne's northern suburbs, 527 new cases in the western suburbs, 496 cases in the south-eastern suburbs and 87 cases in the eastern suburbs.
There were also 145 new cases notified in regional Victoria yesterday. The total number of active cases in regional Victoria stands at 1,846. New cases in regional Victoria yesterday were:
- 5 cases in Ballarat
- 1 case in Bass Coast
- 18 cases in Baw Baw
- 1 case in Benalla
- 1 case in Colac-Otway
- 1 case in Gannawarra
- 13 cases in Greater Bendigo
- 18 cases in Greater Geelong
- 13 cases in Greater Shepparton
- 24 cases in Latrobe
- 2 cases in Macedon Ranges
- 6 cases in Mildura
- 4 cases in Mitchell
- 2 cases in Moira
- 9 casesin Moorabool
- 1 case in Moyne
- 2 cases in Murrindindi
- 1 case in Swan Hill
- 3 cases in Towong
- 6 cases in Wangaratta
- 1 case in Wellington
- 13 cases in Wodonga
Data on Victorian coronavirus cases is available at Victorian COVID-19 data.
There are currently more than 64,800 active primary close contacts in isolation in Victoria.
At midday today, there were around 115 published exposure sites in Victoria.
For more information on each exposure site, including dates and times of exposure, please visit Case alerts - public exposure sites.
There may be occasions when the Department is unable to make contact with a business or residential premises before their listing as an exposure site. At all times, we take the decision of when to publish these sites in the interests of public health.
The Department regularly manages exposure sites that it doesn't publish online, particularly if these sites represent lower-risk exposure, or if they have comprehensive record-keeping and contact-tracing measures, or if they identify small, private locations - including smaller apartment or townhouse complexes.
The Commonwealth Government publishes a weekly Common Operating Picture, which includes the effective reproduction number for all states and territories. For more information, refer to Coronavirus (COVID-19) common operating picture.
Testing
68,702 COVID-19 tests were processed in Victoria.
If you are concerned about losing money from missing work to get a test, support is available - including the $450 test isolation payment. For more information, go to Financial support.
To find your nearest COVID-19 testing site, visit Where to get tested. Operating hours and wait times will vary.
More information
To access the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Victoria, visit Coronavirus (COVID-19) Victoria
