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12.39pm
No decision has been made on the possible easing of restrictions in regional areas but an announcement should be made later this week, Mr Andrews said.
He said meetings would be occurring today and tomorrow on the matter.
"We've seen in recent times given the spike in cases and how quickly that happened that circumstances can change but we're on track to do some easing, it will not be, as the minister said yesterday, a snap back, it's not a freedom day and everything is open 100 per cent," he said.
"But we hope and we're working towards being able to lift that lockdown but there will still be restrictions in country Victoria and we'll make those announcements."
Mr Andrews said once lockdown has lifted businesses should be able to reopen but there won't be 'hundreds and hundreds of people inside'.
"The last thing you want is virus spreading and having to go back into lockdown," he said.
Mr Andrews said the numbers were low in regional areas and he thinks they will be able to lift lockdown but the decision has not been made yet.
He said Shepparton still had remnants of the outbreak to deal with and would be treated differently to the rest of regional Victoria.
"We won't hold back the rest of regional Victoria because of what's happening in Shepparton," he said.
12.08pm
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has hit out at the federal government's prioritisation of Sydney vaccination.
Mr Andrews said he signed up to a national plan to vaccinate the nation, not to vaccinate Sydney.
It comes as reports emerged that NSW GPs and the primary health network had been allocated 45 per cent of the country's Pfizer vaccines last month.
"We have seen hundreds of thousands of vaccines that should have come and should now be in the arms of Victorians, going into Sydney, into GP practices and into NSW," he said.
"Now I have been very clear along the way, some extra allocation, well we don't begrudge that, Sydney is in a very difficult set of circumstance, but they were known, they were announced.
"This was not announced, this was done without anyone knowing and the Commonwealth has got caught doing it.
"It needs to stop."
Mr Andrews said there needs to be a reckoning where additional doses are allocated to Victoria to make up for the doses not delivered to Victoria.
"I did not sign up to and no Victorian signed up to a national plan to vaccinate Sydney," he said.
12pm
Anyone can fall seriously ill with COVID, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has emphasised.
He said currently there are 110 people in hospital, 30 in ICU and 14 on a ventilator.
Mr Andrews highlighted the people on ventilators range in age from 17 to 76
"Perfectly healthy people are becoming very unwell as a result of contracting this virus," he said.
He said the current first-dose vaccination rate in the state was 61.4 per cent.
Mr Andrews said the four weeks spent in hard lockdown had prevented 6000 COVID cases.
He said 11,400 vaccination appointments were currently available and the state was increasing its vaccination capacity.
Victoria recorded 246 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to midnight Monday.
Of the 246 new cases 90 are linked to known outbreaks, while authorities are investigating 156 mystery cases.
There are 1786 active cases in Victoria, all but four are local.
32,300 vaccines were delivered in the 24 hours to midnight Monday and 43,858 tests received.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Yesterday Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said the government still planned to ease restrictions in regional Victoria this week but did not given any timeline.
"It shouldn't be seen as a snapback to where we were, say, in April or May.
"The regions' main risks continue to be, as we've seen with the truck drivers and others, a combination of importing the virus, particularly from NSW, and making sure that the metropolitan Melbourne leaks don't get into our regions."
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Digital journalists with The Border Mail.
Digital journalists with The Border Mail.
