Victoria has recorded another seven COVID-19 deaths, as the government also revealed the extent of infections among students during the first week of school.
Key points:
- There are now 638 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Victoria
- The government says 4,501 students reported infections during the first week of school
- Elective surgeries resume in Victoria today with capacity restricted to 50 per cent
The number of people in hospital after contracting the virus sits at 638, down from 652 a day earlier.
Of those patients, 72 are in intensive care units, with 26 people on ventilators.
The state reported 8,275 new infections 2,308 from PCR results and 5,967 from rapid antigen tests.
It takes the number of officially reported active infections to 59,801, down from 60,917 on Sunday.
About 45 per cent of the state’s adult population has now had a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Thousands of COVID-19 cases in school students, teachers
Education Minister James Merlino said Victoria would reach the 50 per cent vaccination mark for 5-11 year-olds today.
Mr Merlino said the resumption of school had been “so far, so good” despite hundreds of cases emerging in education settings last week.
The Victorian government has revealed 4,501 students reported COVID-19 infections during the first week of school last week.
On Friday, 964 students and 150 teachers reported COVID-19 infections, and a further 607 students reported positive tests over the weekend.
“Vaccination rates mean we could, with confidence, resume schools and we did anticipate that it would be a little bit bumpy.”
Elective surgery resumes in Victoria today in a limited capacity after being suspended since early January.
The Health Department said procedures will be limited to day surgery at private hospitals and day procedure centres at up to 50 per cent of normal levels.
Elective surgeries have been cleared to resume because the seven-day average for COVID-19 hospitalisations in Victoria has dropped from 1,000 to under 800.