Victoria has confirmed 149 new COVID-19 cases and 24 deaths. Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed that 21 of the 24 deaths were linked to aged care outbreaks and were those of one woman in her 60s, three men in their 70s, three women and seven men in their 80s and six women and four men in their 90s.

The deaths take the state’s death toll to 462 and 549 deaths nationwide.

There are currently 1,487 active cases in the country and 121 active outbreaks linked to aged care settings. There are currently 434 active cases of COVID-19 in healthcare workers, down from yesterday’s 475 infections.

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Mr Andrews said that testing times for COVID-19 have improved with most results available in 24 hours. He urged people to get tested if they have flu-like symptoms.

“We have got to have sufficient certainty and confidence that we’re getting an accurate and a big enough snapshot of how much virus is out there in the Victorian community,” he said.