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FIVE new Castlemaine exposure sites have been named tonight in a period that has seen eight new COVID-19 cases confirmed in central Victoria, including extra ones in greater Bendigo.
The Bendigo Advertiser is chasing more details about the new cases but what we know so far can be read below.
The new Castlemaine stores come on top of locations in the town already added in the last 24 hours.
Anyone who attended the Maxi IGA on the following days and times must isolate immediately and seek a COVID-19 test.
- 8.45am to 9.20am on Monday
- 8.51am to 9.40am on Tuesday
- 9.15am to 9.55am on Wednesday
The same goes for anyone who visited Cookie Crumbs between:
- 8.50am and 9.25am on Monday
- 8.40am to 9.15am on Tuesday
- 9.08am and 9.42am on Wednesday
The same goes for those who visited KMart Castlemaine K Hub between
- 9.17am and 9.59am on Monday
- 9.33am and 10.15am on Tuesday
Hot Variety Castlemaine:
- 9.31am to 10.15am on Monday
Stock Gifts and Gallery:
- 10am to 5.30pm on Tuesday
- 10am to 5.30pm on Tuesday
The Department of health says that some people who were at the site at the same times are being considered tier one contacts.
"[They are] required to quarantine for 14 days and the Department will be in contact with them directly with this advice," the department said.
6.30pm
GREATER Bendigo has recorded two new COVID-19 cases, with two more in the Mount Alexander Shire and five in the Macedon Ranges.
An extra case has also been recorded in the Campaspe Shire.
It brings the total number of active cases in municipalities the Bendigo Advertiser covers to 46.
There are no cases in the Loddon Shire right now, though.
12pm
REGIONAL Victoria has recorded 71 new cases including 10 in the newly lockdown Shepparton area.
Another five cases have been found in the Macedon Ranges Shire, 13 in the Mitchell Shire and two in the Moorabool Shire.
There are also 12 new cases in the Gippsland area and three in the Barwon area, with five in Colac and seven in Geelong.
More details of regional case numbers are expected later today.
Friday was another "challenging day" COVID commander Jeroen Weimar said.
"[It is] the highest number of COVID cases we have seen and the largest amount of active [ones] that we have seen at any one time in Victoria during the entire pandemic," he said.
11.45pm
VICTORIA will spend $196.6 million in grants to construction payments including in regional areas like Geelong, the Surf Coast Shire and the Mitchell Shire.
But treasurer Tim Pallas says his government is "very, very unhappy" with his federal counterparts for breaking with their practice of co-funding the business support package.
"After all, these are in large measure small business operators who have been impacted because of lockdown orders," he said.
"And I do make the point that this is despite the fact that the Commonwealth funded a similar program to support construction businesses in New South Wales."
Earlier
A TOTAL of 1488 new coronavirus cases have been added to the state's coronavirus total overnight in a new record high number.
The previous record was 1438 new cases, which was marked several days ago by contract tracers recording transmissions related to grand final parties.
Figures released by the Department of Health also showed there were two deaths related to COVID-19.
Victoria now has a total of 11,591 active coronavirus cases.
The state also administered 36,878 vaccines and sent back 71,224 test results for Victoria.
Read more:
Cases in Campaspe Shire (one), Gannawarra Shire (one) and Macedon Ranges (one) have been recorded as part of the 62 cases recorded in regional Victoria on Friday.
On Friday night, Beaumont Tiles was added as a tier 2 exposure site in Bendigo.
The Strickland Road business had a case attend the venue on September 29 from 4.45pm to 5.30pm.
Anyone who attended the venue at that time must get tested and isolated until receiving a negative result.
Some individuals will be Tier one contacts required to quarantine for 14 days and the Department of Health will be in contact with them directly.
The same goes for Castlemaine Health's Cornish Street site, which was listed as tier two overnight.
The confirmation comes after the service called a code yellow midway through the week.
A code yellow refers to an internal emergency or threat to infrastructure, but the Department of Health does not always list its exposure sites online.
That can include if those sites represent very low risk exposures, or if they have comprehensive record keeping and contact tracing measures in place and are not attended by members of the public.
Earlier this week, Castlemaine Health chief executive Sue Race said eight staff members had been tested for COVID-19 and had returned negative results.
"You always dread this as a health service... but we've been able to contain this very quickly," Ms Race said.
More tier two exposure sites were also added overnight on the far edge of the central Victoria region, including at Atkinson Park's playground in Kerang on Saturday between 10am and 11.10am.
People who attended the Serpentine Roadhouse on Tuesday 21 September between 9.50am and 10.35am as well as 1.07pm and 1.50pm should also get tested.
The same goes for anyone who attended the next day between 9.50am and 10.35am and between 1.08pm and 1.50pm.
A tier two alert has also been issued for the Lake Meran public playground and toilets (Northern Side) for between 10am and 1pm on the same day.
Read more:
Also on Friday, the state government announces a vaccination mandate for people authorised to leave their home for work.
Every worker not currently required to work from home will need at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine if they want to keep working within two weeks.
They will need to have their second jab by 26 November.
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