Vic records 1007 COVID cases, three deaths
All international arrivals to Victoria are now required to quarantine at home for 72 hours. Photo: AAP
Victoria has recorded another 1007 new COVID-19 infections and three deaths, as authorities warn new international quarantine measures could be extended.
The health department confirmed on Monday the state is now managing 11,501 active COVID-19 cases.
There are 300 COVID patients in the state’s hospitals, 45 of them are actively infected with the virus in intensive care and 17 requiring ventilation.
The seven-day hospitalisation average is 296.
Virus testers processed almost 48,397 results on Sunday, while 1813 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in state-run hubs.
More than 90 per cent of Victorians aged over 12 are fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, all international arrivals to Victoria are now required to quarantine at home for 72 hours, following the emergence of the Omicron strain, with authorities warning the orders may be extended.
New arrivals who have recently been in one of nine southern African countries must now quarantine in a hotel for 14 days.
Those countries are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, The Seychelles, and Zimbabwe.
Anyone already in Victoria who has been to those countries in the past 14 days must also be tested and isolate for two weeks.
Chief health officer Brett Sutton on Sunday said the new measures were necessary for authorities to gauge the health response required by the new variant.
“It is sensible for us to take that precautionary … and hopefully temporary approach as many other countries around the world have done,” he said.
Key questions about Omicron’s transmissibility, whether it results in milder or more serious illness and the effectiveness of vaccines are yet to be answered.