Ballarat COVID update | Tuesday, November 16: zero new cases, 30 active cases

NEW CASES: 0 (down from 1 yesterday)

ACTIVE CASES: 30 (down from 32 yesterday)

Ballarat has ticked off another day without recording a new COVID case in the city.

It was just the third time this month that Ballarat did not confirm a COVD infection.

There are now 30 active cases in the city, a figure that has been steadily dropping since peaking at about 70 late in October.

In nearby Moorabool Shire, there were four cases confirmed, meaning there are now 91 active in the shire.

Pyrenees Shire confirmed one new case, while Hepburn and Golden Plains shires did not record a case.

Further afield in regional Victoria, other key cities are witnessing far greater numbers than Ballarat.

Shepparton (331 active cases), Geelong (291), Bendigo (174), Latrobe (309), Wodonga (101) and Mildura (72) all continue to see far higher numbers than Ballarat.

VICTORIAN COVID UPDATE | Tuesday, November 16

NEW CASES: 797 (down from 860 yesterday)

DEATHS: 8 (up from 5 yesterday)

ACTIVE CASES: (1,431 down from 17,518 yesterday)

IN HOSPITAL: 394 (up from 378 yesterday)

IN ICU: 72 (down from 78 yesterday)

ON VENTILATOR: 44 (up/down from 48 yesterday)

Victoria has recorded 797 new COVID-19 cases and eight people have died as hospitalisation rates continue to fall.

The health department confirmed on Tuesday the state is managing 14,131 total active cases.

It is the third straight day Victoria's case numbers have dropped, after reporting 860 cases on Monday.

There are 394 virus patients in hospital, 72 in ICU are actively infected with COVID-19 and 61 have been cleared, with 44 on ventilators.

The state's seven-day hospitalisation average has fallen by 26 to 418.

Health officials say virus testers processed 53,527 results in the 24 hours to Monday evening, and 7191 people were vaccinated at state-run hubs.

Victoria is now 87 per cent double-vaccinated in those aged over 12.

Once the 90 per cent mark is reached, predicted about November 24, Victorians are promised a return to normality with patron caps removed and masks only required on public transport and in high-risk settings.

In Ballarat, the number of active cases in the city continued to fall on Monday, with just one new case confirmed.

Although today's data is yet to be released, there were just 32 active cases in the city.

Ballarat would have almost certainly passed the 95 per cent fully vaccinated mark on Monday.

The latest vaccination data, which only counted up to Sunday night, had Ballarat sitting at 94.5% double-dose rate.

Meanwhile, the Victorian government has made several changes to its pandemic legislation to address legal and human rights concerns, ahead of debate in state parliament's upper house.

AAP has confirmed the government has made seven amendments to the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021 following negotiations with key crossbench MPs.

The bill, which gives the premier and health minister the power to declare a pandemic and make public health orders, had been criticised for being too broad and lacking in parliamentary oversight.

A controversial clause that gave the health minister the ability to make orders based on a person's "characteristics, attributes or circumstances", such as age, location, vaccination status and occupation, also raised concern.

Amendments to the legislation will clarify that the premier will need "reasonable grounds" to declare a pandemic and that the application of orders based on characteristics "must be relevant to the public health risk".

The health minister will be required to confirm the role the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities has played in their decisions.

The advice behind any orders issued must be made public within a week rather than a fortnight, while the parliament's Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee will be given the power to consider any order when it is made, instead of after it is tabled.

Maximum fines for people who breach public health orders have been halved.

Health Minister Martin Foley said the amendments were the result of consultation with public health, human rights and law experts.

"The new pandemic laws will provide a clear framework for managing pandemics such as COVID-19 - while putting the safety of all Victorians first," he said in a statement.

The government is relying on the support of Animal Justice MP Andy Meddick, Reason Party MP Fiona Patten and Greens leader Samantha Ratnam to pass the bill in the Legislative Council.

They issued a joint statement on Monday night saying their advocacy had secured greater transparency and accountability in the bill.

Ms Patten said the amendments had found a delicate balance between protecting human rights and protecting the health of the community.

The debate is expected to begin on Tuesday and could continue well into Thursday night, with MPs told parliament could sit an extra day to ensure the bill passes.

The Victorian opposition also announced it would be moving 18 amendments to the bill, including limiting extensions to pandemic declarations to one month, subject to a three-fifths majority vote of both houses of parliament, and the scrapping of the characteristics clause.

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