Regional Victoria is continuing to see growing cases of COVID -19 on a day where cases broke a new record
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There are now 225 active cases in regional Victoria with an additional case in Ballarat.
There were also two new cases in the shire of Moorabool but their exact location was not yet known.
Acting chief health officer Professor Ben Cowie said from the modelling and experience of NSW, numbers were likely to continue to climb.
"But it is absolutely with in our power to slow the spread and to prevent thousands of cases and thousands of people from becoming seriously ill and some people losing their lives," Prof. Cowie said.
"And we can do that by following the public health directions, social distancing, and, of course, getting vaccinated."
The spread of the outbreak continues to grow on both sides of the state.
"There were nine in Mitchell Shire, four cases in Warrnambool, all from the same household, two cases from Greater Dandenong, two cases in Moorabool, two cases in Wellington, and one case each in Strathbogie, Surf Coast, Ballarat, Murrindindee, Corangamite, Baw Baw Shire, and South's Gippsland."
Ballarat and the region had several new exposure sites overnight including two in Ballan and two in Daylesford as well as an extra time for a fruit shop in Wendouree.
Earlier Victoria recorded 950 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases and seven deaths.
It is the state's highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic, surpassing the previous record of 867 cases on Tuesday.
The new infections bring the number of active cases in the state to 9890. It brings the toll from the current outbreak to 32.
This figure comes from 61,322 test results according to the DHHS.
Health officials say 34,020 vaccine doses were administered in the 24 hours to Monday evening.
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Meanwhile Victorian paramedics are transferring about 150 COVID-19 patients to hospital each day, only for them to be turned away.
Ambulance Victoria's Mick Stephenson says the state's health system is facing unprecedented pressure due to a rise in COVID-19 cases and other emergency presentations.
"We're having longer delays at hospital than we've ever had before and our capacity to respond and our performance has never been challenged as much as it has been over recent weeks," he told ABC Radio Melbourne on Wednesday.
"If the growth in COVID cases continues, performance will be expected to get poorer unless we can do something about reducing the number of people coming into hospital."
Associate Professor Stephenson said transferring COVID-19 patients had become a "major issue" for paramedics.
"Ambulance (Victoria) alone at the moment is transporting about 150 COVID- positive patients a day, they take an extraordinarily long time to process in emergency departments, so they make a significant contribution to slowing the system down," he said.
Assoc Prof Stephenson said most had mild symptoms and did not require hospital treatment and are being sent home.
Currently, there are 375 Victorians in hospital with COVID-19, but that number could grow to up to 2500 by end of the year according to Burnet Institute modelling commissioned by the state government.
Marty Smyth, Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority chief executive, said 3250 Victorians made ambulance calls on Monday.
It is the highest number of calls since the deadly thunderstorm asthma event in 2016, which led to an unprecedented surge in demand for ambulances and 10 deaths.
"Last year, people were reluctant to access medical services and general practitioners," Mr Smyth told ABC Radio Melbourne.
"This year we're seeing a significant increase in demand and calls but they're all standard calls that we would typically take on a day - road traffic accidents, medical emergencies, chest pain, abdominal pain, headaches that kind of thing."
He said there is a benchmark that 90 per cent of triple zero calls are answered in five seconds but the average wait is currently is one to two minutes.
One person was forced to wait 13 minutes on Monday night.
"These calls are not triaged, so until we actually take the call and triage it and find out what exactly is going on, that's what really concerns us," Mr Smyth said.
Government funding has allowed the service to hire an additional 43 staff but it will take them months to train.
He and Assoc Prof Stephenson both urged Victorians not to call triple zero unless it was an emergency.
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Meanwhile the Latrobe Valley region has been plunged into a seven-day lockdown to curb a growing COVID-19 outbreak believed to be linked to a household gathering.
Residents in the City of Latrobe, which encompasses the Gippsland towns of Moe, Morwell and Traralgon, entered lockdown just before midnight on Tuesday.
They are now living under the same restrictions as those in Melbourne, aside from curfew.
Where can I get tested: Click here to see where you can get a COVID test.
Health Minister Martin Foley said the illegal social gathering, held over the AFL grand final weekend, was "regrettable".
Active cases in the region have now jumped to 18, with a further four infections confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. They will be reported in Wednesday's tally.
It comes as approval of the Victorian government's handling of the pandemic has fallen, despite the release of its COVID-19 roadmap and Melburnians enjoying more minor freedoms.
The latest Essential poll, which surveyed 1094 people last week, shows support for the Andrews government's response to the state's COVID-19 outbreak fell to 44 per cent over the past fortnight.
The approval rating had rebounded to 50 per cent in mid-September after falling to 44 per cent in late August.
Victorians also generally have less confidence in state-specific plans for reopening than their counterparts across the Murray River, the poll indicates.
Both Victoria and NSW have released reopening roadmaps in line with reaching 70 and 80 per cent double dose vaccination coverage targets.
Of the 277 Victorians surveyed, 36 per cent said they had confidence in their plan compared to 48 per cent of 348 NSW respondents.
Melbourne's lockdown will remain in place until 70 per cent of Victorians aged over 16 are double-vaccinated, which is forecast for October 26.
A more significant easing of restrictions will occur when the 80 per cent double-dose target is met, forecast for November 5.
With the state forecast to pass 80 per cent single-dose vaccination coverage, a modest easing of rules comes into effect on Wednesday including extending the travel limit to 15km and resumption of contactless sports.
For exposure sites visit www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites
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- with AAP
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