Victoria records 1571 new Covid cases

The state’s health department confirmed the new figures about 9am as a key vaccination milestone was reached on Tuesday night.At least 60 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and older are now fully vaccinated as the state surges towards its 70 per cent reopening target.Premier Daniel Andrews celebrated the milestone with a series of posts on social media.“Well done Victoria, we’re almost there,” he said.“It’s too soon to be a trend, but for the first time since August, our seven day average of cases has come down.“And even better – our seven day average for vaccinations has never been higher.”Covid data analyst website Covidbase AU said Victoria’s Reff number – how many cases on average a single person will infect – was also trending down at 1.06, its lowest point of the outbreak.There has also been a “stabilisation” of Covid cases in concerning hot spots such as Hume.The new deaths announced on Wednesday takes the number of lives lost during Victoria’s outbreak to 114 and the toll of the pandemic in Victoria to 934.The deaths included a man in his 50s, a man in his 60s, a man in his 70s, and two men in their 80s, all from the Whittlesea area, a woman in her 90s from Darebin, a man in his 80s from Hume, a woman in her 80s from Moonee Valley, a man in his 70s from Brimbank, a woman in her 70s from Banyule, a man in his 70s from Moreland, a woman in her 60s from Stonnington and a man in his 60s from Nillumbik.At least 705 positive Covid patients are in hospital in Victoria, with 146 of those in intensive care, including 92 cases on a ventilator.Lockdown is set to end in Victoria around October 26 when 70 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and older are fully vaccinated.As of Wednesday, at least 87.1 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and over had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 60.9 per cent were fully vaccinated.Premier Daniel Andrews has committed to ending the lockdown as planned when the state reaches 70 per cent fully vaccinated.There are 19,861 active coronavirus cases in Victoriajack.paynter@news.com.au