21 Aug 2021

Victoria records 77 new Covid-19 cases with tougher restrictions likely

1:28 pm on 21 August 2021

Victoria has recorded 77 new cases of Covid-19 and the government has increased restrictions for regional Victoria to match those of Melbourne.

People queue for Covid-19 coronavirus tests in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda

People queue for Covid-19 tests in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda Photo: AFP

The Health Department earlier said an additional 16 cases were recorded on a rapid PCR testing platform and would be reported in tomorrow's numbers.

Earlier the number of new cases for Victoria was said to be 61 and of those, 48 are linked to known outbreaks, and 22 were in isolation for their entire infectious period.

There were 45,670 test results received yesterday, and 29,539 doses of vaccine were administered at state-run sites.

The new cases come as the government announced that all of regional Victoria will move to the same lockdown conditions as already exist in Melbourne.

Victoria Premier Dan Andrews said the only exception was that a curfew would not operation in regional Victoria.

A government spokesperson yesterday said the situation in Melbourne and across regional Victoria was extremely concerning.

"Advice will be provided to government tomorrow morning and all options are on the table," the spokesperson said.

"In the interests of not contributing to any further spread of the virus, all community sporting leagues across regional Victoria are asked to immediately cancel their activities for this weekend."

Victoria's public health team has been asked to look at options for increasing Covid-19 restrictions, senior government sources have told the ABC, amid concern over a drop in compliance and the discovery of 17 new cases in Shepparton.

- ABC