In the figures released for the 24 hours to midnight on Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported 79 people with the COVID-19 virus in Victoria – all were locally acquired.

The DHHS said of these new cases, 53 were linked to known outbreaks and 26 were under investigation. It said that more information would be available later this morning. The latest figures bring the total number of active cases in the state to 660.

Over the same 24-hour period, 33,611 vaccinations for COVID-19 were conducted in the state, bringing the total number of vaccinations in the state to 2,288,107. The department said 50,535 Victorians were tested over the same period.

The ABC reported that a new case was confirmed in Echuca where an aged care centre worker at Wharparilla Lodge had test positive for COVID-19. The centre was reported to be in lockdown while the residents were under observation.

This latest case is part of a growing number of regional sites that have been exposed to COVID-19 with more than 100 reported for Shepparton alone.

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In New South Wales the regional lockdown has been extended to 10 September, as the state reported 1,029 cases and three deaths yesterday. TThe ABC said six million vaccinations had been conducted to date and the state government would be announcing “new freedoms” for fully vaccinated people from 13 September..

The state premier, Gladys Berejiklian is expected announce new measures that will include the return of students to classrooms later today.

The ABC reported that University of Sydney study using data up to 25 August has revealed that under current setting that the number of COVID cases could continue to climb over the next six weeks with daily infection rates reaching 1,500 to 6,000 cases a day. It projected that up to 500,000 people could be infected.

At the time of writing there were no new figures available for Queensland and the ACT. Yesterday Queensland health authorities two new cases while the ACT reported 14.