Michaela Meade
Four more people from Whittlesea and Hume have died as the state’s latest COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow.
Premier Daniel Andrews said a woman in her 70s and man in his 80s from Whittlesea, and a man in his 60s and a man in his 90s from Hume had died in the past 24 hours.
“We of course pass our very best wishes and sympathies and sincere condolences to those families,” Mr Andrews said.
“This will be a very difficult time for them.”
It comes as 1438 cases were reported this morning, which Mr Andrews said was higher than expected.
“These numbers are higher than we’d like, and they’re higher than they needed to be,” he said.
“[But] we can see to the end now.
“Let’s all of us make the best decisions, and not contribute to more virus, not infect people that we love, not make the work of our nurses harder.
“Let’s just see this through.”
COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar attributed the surge in cases to “significant numbers of social gatherings” over the long weekend.
“We know that everyone’s fatigued, we know that everyone’s tired, but today is a significant setback in how we’ve managed this outbreak,” he said.
Mr Weimar did not outline how many new cases were within the northern suburbs, however said there are 6401 total active cases in the north.
“[There has been a] significant drop in the proportion of cases in our northern suburbs, the areas we’ve been working on so closely over so many weeks,” he said.
Mr Andrews said he was pleased with the vaccination efforts in the northern suburbs.
“I must say I’m very, very impressed with Hume, the north and the west,” he said.
“Those northern and western local government areas [are] where we’ve seen a concerted effort [and] really hard work on half of so many people.”
Mr Weimar said a six-lane mass testing site on Pascoe Vale Road, Coolaroo, opened today.
“We are continuing to expand that testing capacity to ensure that everybody can get a test quickly, reliably and safely,” he said.
To find out where to get tested: www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/where-get-tested-covid-19
To book your COVID-19 vaccination: www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/book-your-vaccine-appointment
