Victoria confirmed 221 new local cases in the last 24 hours with 123 mystery infections and only 98 of the cases having been epidemiologically linked.
Along with the new case numbers comes a rise in the number of venues with more than 950 venues listed as exposure sites across the state, including the waiting room of the emergency department of the Alfred Hospital, listed as a tier 1 exposure site for 6 September between 5.37pm and 11.15pm.
While many people are complying to the rules, Victoria police said up to 100 people will be fined after gathering at a synagogue in Melbourne’s south-east, breaching COVID-19 rules.
On Tuesday, people were spotted entering prayer room, near a Ripponlea synagogue, to mark the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to make an announcement shortly concerning regional Victoria which is set to come out of lockdown this week, however discussions are still taking place as to which restrictions will be eased.
READ MORE:Unvaccinated Victorians will be “locked out” of venues as state records 190 new cases of COVID-19
Victoria’s Health Minister Martin Foley said that the state would not snap back to where it was in April or May.
“The regions may continue to be at risk, as we have seen with a combination of importing the virus particularly from NSW and making sure that the metropolitan Melbourne leaks don’t get into our regions,” he said
Even once vaccination rates reach 80 per cent, leading infectious diseases experts are warning that the jab won’t stop the spread of the virus where even those who are vaccinated can still spread and catch the virus but are less likely to be hospitalised.
READ MORE: Lockouts – not lockdowns, when we hit 80 per cent double vaccination
Vaccine passports will help see events return to normal.
