Victoria has recorded 120 new coronavirus cases, the first time the state has reached triple COVID-19 figures in a year.
The last time Victoria’s case numbers exceeded 100 was on September 2 last year, when 110 cases were recorded.
Sixty-four of Wednesday’s cases are linked to existing virus outbreaks, leaving 56 potential mystery cases.
Victoria has also recorded its first deaths in the current outbreak, after the health department revealed two women aged in their 40s and 60s died at home on Tuesday.
The Ambulance Union’s Danny Hill says paramedics were called to a Northcote home where a woman died on Tuesday as if “it was like any other cardiac arrest case” and were not told people at the house had COVID-19, therefore not wearing appropriate PPE before entering the house.
“If you have that information ahead of time, it gives paramedics time to manage that scene, so that might be getting people out of the room, moving family members away, informing other emergency services before they arrive,” Mr Hill told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“What this highlights is that there isn”t a system in place that ensures all emergency workers are given information about a quarantine site before they attend.”
Premier Daniel Andrews will unveil on Wednesday a roadmap out of the state’s sixth lockdown, which will detail modest changes and the number of COVID-19 cases the state can live with until 80 per cent of eligible Victorian adults are double vaccinated.
Cabinet ministers met on Tuesday night to discuss the roadmap and case number thresholds put forward by Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and his team.
The changes could include ending a ban on playgrounds, lifting the COVID-19 curfew in Melbourne and increasing the 5km limit on personal travel from homes.
Mr Andrews said he would not be reopening schools immediately, although he flagged an announcement would be made to prioritise year 12 students for vaccinations ahead of exams in October.
It is the state’s second COVID-19 roadmap after a four-step plan to return to normality was unveiled on September 6 last year.
Once Victoria reaches the 80 per cent vaccine target set by national cabinet, Mr Andrews said the national plan would replace it.
Meanwhile, the AFL grand final has officially been relocated from Melbourne for a second straight year and will be played in Perth on September 25.
There were 56,501 people tested for COVID-19 on Monday and 33,455 vaccine doses were administered at state-run hubs.
There are now 900 active cases of coronavirus in Victoria.
AAP
