Victoria records 76 new local COVID-19 cases as state awaits lockdown announcement

Victoria recorded 76 new local COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to midnight on Monday.

Forty-five infections were linked to previously announced cases, while the source of the 31 others remains under investigation.

Thirty-six of the cases were in isolation for their full infectious period.

Some 32,162 vaccine doses were administered at state-run hubs in the same reporting period.

Premier Daniel Andrews said that he would reveal on Wednesday the thresholds the state needed to meet to ease lockdown restrictions.

"We have to aim to keep these numbers incredibly low," he told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.

"If we can get to zero, that is a terrific outcome."

"If we can't, then we are all the better having tried to drive these numbers down as low as possible."

He said Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and the state government would work throughout the day to finalise the plan, to give Victorians clarity on how the coming weeks could look.

But Mr Andrews warned tomorrow "will not be freedom day" and any easing of restrictions would be gradual.

"The choice is not between being open and being closed," he said. 

"The choice is between low numbers while we race to vaccinate, or incredibly high numbers because we have not vaccinated enough people yet."

"None of us should kid ourselves, pretending that we can live with COVID when we have only got 35 per cent of people vaccinated."

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews addresses the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Tuesday, August 31, 2021.

AAP

The number of exposure sites in Victoria has increased to more than 1,000, with almost 150 new locations added to the list in the past day.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital also rose.

Fifty-two Victorians were in hospital as of Tuesday, with 16 in intensive care, 15 of whom are on ventilators.

The median age of COVID-19 patients in Victoria's hospitals 49 years, while the median age of those in intensive care is 48.

More than half of COVID-19 patients in the state's hospital are under 50.

"This is an outbreak and is moving to become a pandemic of the unvaccinated," Mr Andrews said.

"There are very few people in hospital that have been first dosed or fully vaccinated".

SBS is providing live translations of daily New South Wales and Victoria COVID-19 press conferences in various languages. Click here for more information.

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