Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media on in Melbourne. Photo / Getty Images
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media on in Melbourne. Photo / Getty Images
Victoria has recorded its highest daily Covid-19 figure on record with 1488 new cases, along with two more deaths.
The cases were detected from 71,224 test results, bringing the state's total number of active cases to 11,591.
It comes after Victoria recorded 1143 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday and recorded an almost 50 per cent jump in infections on Thursday, with 1438 new cases.
Today's figures outstrip the previous record set on Thursday by 53 cases.
Both Moorabool Shire, west of Melbourne, and Shepparton have now entered into a snap week-long lockdown after a rise of cases in the local government areas.
Restrictions that apply will be the same as those in metropolitan Melbourne, excluding the curfew.
On Friday, Premier Daniel Andrews put authorised workers on notice, giving a two-week deadline to receive at least one dose of the Covid-19 jab.
The mandate will require everyone on the authorised worker list across Melbourne and regional Victoria to have received at least one jab by October 15 and to be double-dosed by November 26.
A Covid-19 testing centre in Melbourne. Photo / NCA wire
"It is critically important that we do not see these cases continue to climb and go up and up and up so that our hospital system is under immense pressure even before we open up," Andrews said.
"We just won't do that to our nurses, to our doctors, to all of our teams of those dedicated health professionals."
But the deadline will not apply to sectors that already have existing vaccine requirements such as those in construction, aged care and education.
It comes as the Victorian Government has announced a major Moderna blitz across southeast Melbourne.
Close to 37,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were administered across the state yesterday.
NSW 813 new coronavirus cases
Covid numbers continue to fall in NSW with the state recording 813 locally acquired cases and 10 deaths, as a key vaccination milestone draws near.
Saturday's updated from NSW Health showed a drop of 50 cases from 863 the day before, while the deaths recorded were also down from the 15 on Friday. There were 941 cases on Thursday.
Saturday's deaths included six men and four women, one person in their 50s, and the rest aged between 60 and 100. Four people were not vaccinated, while five people had received one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
NSW recorded 813 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. pic.twitter.com/DabSeyA3QP
One person was fully vaccinated - a man in his 60s from western Sydney who acquired his infection at Mount Druitt Hospital. He had underlying health conditions.
There are currently 1005 Covid patients admitted to the hospital in NSW, 202 who require intensive care, and 99 on ventilators.
As of Saturday morning, 87.7 per cent of NSW residents aged older than 16 had received their first dose, and 65.2 per cent were fully vaccinated. The total number of vaccines administered in NSW is now 10.2 million.
It is projected 70 per cent of eligible residents in the state will have had both of their coronavirus shots by October 6. The state's lockdown is set to ease on October 11.
Saturday's figures - presented by NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty, come as the state government considers changes that would mean fully vaccinated people who visit certain exposure sites are no longer considered close contacts.
The changes would not apply for household contacts, in school or healthcare facilities, or in settings where people are in proximity for long periods.
