Covid 19 Australia: Victoria records 1438 new local cases

A Melbourne health worker walks past an exposure site. Photo / Getty Images

Victoria has recorded 1438 new locally acquired Covid-19 infections, another daily record, as health authorities warn the state has not yet reached the peak of the outbreak.

Five new deaths were also announced by the health department on Thursday morning.

It takes the death toll of the outbreak to 41 and the number of Victorians who have lost their lives to Covid to 861.

The outbreak continues to hit younger Victorians the hardest with 83 per cent of all active cases aged under 50, while almost a quarter of cases are people in their 20s.

Acting chief health officer Ben Cowie warned Victorians daily case figures would continue to rise and had not yet peaked.

"We know from both modelling and experience in NSW our case numbers will continue to climb," he said.

"But it is absolutely with in our power to slow the spread and to prevent thousands of cases and hundreds of people from becoming seriously ill and some people losing their lives.

"We can do that by following the public health directions, social distancing and getting vaccinated. Vaccinations remain our best weapon to fight back against this deadly virus."

Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton. Photo / Getty Images

Chief health officer Brett Sutton has also previously warned that daily infections would climb above 1000.

"We haven't peaked unfortunately, the risk of it getting to 1000 is real," Sutton said last week.

No new cases were recorded in hotel quarantine on Thursday. More than 27,000 primary close contacts remain in isolation in Victoria.

There are now 11,018 active cases in the state.