Michaela Meade
Forty per cent of the new COVID-19 cases recorded over the past 24 hours were in Hume, as vaccination uptake increased in the municipality.
Chief health officer Brett Sutton today confirmed that 242 of the 603 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases reside in Hume.
Professor Sutton said 53 cases were in the city of Whittlesea.
“We continue to see the majority of new cases very much in the northern suburbs,” he said.
A Meadow Heights aged care facility was flagged as the “outbreak of greatest interest”, with 15 cases recorded; eleven staff and four residents.
“94 per cent of staff are fully vaccinated, the remainder have had one dose,” Professor Sutton said.
“77 per cent of residents are fully vaccinated, some partially vaccinated and of course, some have declined [to get vaccinated] as is their right.
“Affected residents are being transferred out of that facility.”
Professor Sutton said that while case numbers were “overwhelmingly in Hume”, increased vaccination rates were “good news”.
“We’ve seen [a] significant ramp up in vaccination in the north and west of… metropolitan Melbourne,” he said.
“In Hume, first dose coverage has grown 9.5 per cent in just a week, to now be at 64.5 per cent coverage.
“Whittlesea’s grown 7.3 per cent to reach 63.5 per cent [coverage].
“Hume is coming from a lower baseline, but [has had] really significant uptick, and hopefully will overtake the state average, because we really see an overlay with the highest number of cases, the highest growth in cases [and] the lowest vaccination coverage.
“The higher the vaccination coverage is that insurance against transmission, against high case numbers and high growth rates.”
To book your vaccination: www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/book-your-vaccine-appointment
