Shocking statistic about Victoria's rising Covid cases
Victoria's Health Minister has declared the state is continuing to grapple with a pandemic of the young and the unvaccinated, while revealing the majority of new cases are people aged under 50.
Victoria recorded 473 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, the highest daily increase in this most recent outbreak.
Of those cases, 202 are linked to known outbreaks.
Health Minister Martin Foley said of all active cases in the state, 87 per cent of them are people aged under 50-years-old.
"This continues to be a pandemic of the young and the unvaccinated, with 87 per cent of all active cases now under the age of 50," he said.
Vaccinations open for 12 to 15-year-olds
He added "importance of vaccinating teenagers is clearly very strong" given 585 people aged under 19 currently have Covid, 529 are under the age of nine.
From today, anyone aged over 12-years-old is eligible to get vaccinated.
There are 157 people in hospital with Covid-19, 38 of those patients are in the intensive care unit, 26 are on a ventilator.
"Sadly, 89 per cent of those people, of the 157, were unvaccinated. 11 per cent had received one vaccination and none of those 157 were fully vaccinated," Mr Foley said.
"So the message is pretty clear - vaccinations keep you out of hospital.
"Vaccinations get us to the other side of this outbreak and vaccinations are our ticket to something that looks like a COVID-normal life and that's what we will need to aspire to."
Regional areas, with the exception of Shepparton, were released from lockdown last week, while Melbourne and Shepparton remain under strict rules.
It is expected Shepparton will be released next week, while Melbourne will have to wait for the state government's roadmap.
More to come
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