Michaela Meade
Eighty-eight per cent of today’s new COVID-19 cases are in the northern and western suburbs.
COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar confirmed 274 of the 423 cases recorded in the past 24 hours reside in the northern suburbs, including in Craigieburn and Roxburgh Park.
Health department data shows that postcode 3064 – which includes Craigieburn and Roxburgh Park – has 659 active cases of COVID-19.
A man in his 40s from Whittlesea was among the two deaths recorded today.
To address demand for testing in the northern suburbs, Mr Weimar said the Splash Aqua park in Craigieburn will be acting as a temporary testing site from today.
“My thanks to all the teams supporting the community,” he said.
“It’s a huge effort across local councils, civic and community leaders and, of course, our public health teams working to support people.”
A cluster linked to the Oporto restaurant in Coolaroo was an outbreak of concern, Mr Weimar said.
Chief health officer Brett Sutton said that while the case numbers were concerning, the uptake of vaccinations was good.
Hume recorded a growth of 35 per cent of people having received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in two weeks, Professor Sutton said.
