Victoria has recorded 532 new coronavirus cases, the highest one-day total in the state since the pandemic began.
Key points:
- About 15 per cent of Victoria’s 4,542 active cases are connected to outbreaks in aged care
- Premier Daniel Andrews says people going to work while sick is “the biggest driver of transmission”
- He warns entire industries may need to close if employers continue to allow people to work when they have symptoms
Six people have died with COVID-19, including a woman aged in her 90s, a woman and a man in their 80s, a woman and a man in their 70s and a man in his 50s.
Premier Daniel Andrews said five of the six deaths were connected to outbreaks in aged care.
Victoria now has 4,542 active cases, with 683 of those connected to aged care and 400 cases in health workers.
There are 245 people in Victorian hospitals with the virus, including 44 in intensive care units.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the outbreaks in aged care were “a consequence of community transmission”.
“They represent a tragedy for the families involved,” he said.
“The numbers are disturbing.”
Professor Sutton said there were now:
- 84 cases linked to St Basil’s Home for The Aged in Fawkner
- 82 cases linked to in Estia aged care in Ardeer
- 77 cases linked to Ep