1.20pm
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Bendigo Health has sent people home from the McLaren Street COVID-19 testing hub after reaching capacity.
Queues started forming at the hub about 7am and numbers continued to swell throughout the morning.
Authorities allow for a two-hour wait period at the drive through and walk-in services for people lining up to be tested.
Bendigo Health is encouraging those who missed out on being tested to isolate at home if they have visited an exposure site.
People are asked to return to the testing hub later this afternoon when it becomes less busy or tomorrow morning.
11.45am
Regional Victoria has recorded 110 new cases overnight with numbers deemed "pretty stable" overall.
Chief medical officer Brett Sutton said authorities were continuing to watch Mildura's case numbers closely.
There were 24 new cases there on Monday, he said.
"But there were 900 tests done yesterday ... [and] about one in 10 people in Mildura have been tested in the last few days," Dr Sutton said.
He urged regional Victorians in areas without high case numbers to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
"Don't put off vaccination because you haven't seen COVID in that community," Dr Sutton said.
If you've had no dose at all now, please make sure you get that first dose because COVID will come to all regions of Victoria in time as we open up."
11.20am
VICTORIA will hit its 60 per cent double dose target today, health minister Martin Foley has told reporters while revealing changes to help healthcare workers with the coming COVID-19 surge.
"We know that the next few months, as Victoria opens, are going to be incredibly challenging and difficult for our nurses, our midwives, our doctors, our paramedics, in fact all of our healthcare workforce," he said.
The government will spend $2.5 million to recruit up to 1000 healthcare workers living overseas to try to ease pressure on hospital staff.
"This group will largely be made up of returning Australians who have wanted to come back to our healthcare workforce," Mr Foley said.
The government will also spend $255 million to help frontline hospital workers deal with the surge.
"We will be establishing a new allowance to better support nurses, paramedics, doctors, and those hard-working people in those front facing hospital-based COVID facing environments that are really risky, but really important," Mr Foley said.
In good news for hospital staff preparing for the surge expected if lockdown restrictions ease at the end of October, Victoria has seen a decrease in the number of new cases in recent days.
Numbers have steadily dropped to below 1500 after reaching a record 1965 cases last Friday.
Earlier on Tuesday, premier Daniel Andrews said that the trend might be positive but warned against people letting their guards down.
"We can't get carried away to think that the danger that the cases present to our health system and to individuals and families is somehow over," he said.
Mr Andrews only briefly touched on COVID-19 as he answered media questions about the resignation of a cabinet minister following bombshell testimony on alleged branch stacking in Victoria.
Earlier
VICTORIA has recorded 1466 new coronavirus cases since Monday in a third straight day of declines.
New case numbers have been falling since the record 1965 tallied during Friday testing.
Despite that, there were eight deaths.
Monday also bought 68,509 test results to Victorians as well as 36,383 vaccinations being administered.
Victoria's active coronavirus case tally now sits at 19,627.
Contact tracers added a raft of new tier one exposure sites across the Bendigo area overnight including in central Bendigo and Maiden Gully.
Earlier on Monday, Bendigo Health said it was treating two people for COVID-19.
Two patients were in the respiratory ward and none receiving intensive care.
Thirteen COVID-19 patients were monitored through the Hospital in the Home program.
Shine Bright EYM confirmed the closure of its Maiden Gully early years hub after a COVID-19 positive case attended last week.
In a statement on its website, the organisation said a child attended the site on Friday, October 8.
"Dear Shine Bright Families and Staff, a child who attended the Shine Bright Maiden Gully Early Years Hub has tested positive for COVID-19, we have closed the hub and are awaiting further advice from DHHS," the statement said.
The child was at the facility between 9.15am and noon that day.
"We encourage families and staff who attended the hub to go and get tested immediately and isolate," the statement continued
"Further advice to follow."
Overall, Greater Bendigo recorded six new cases of COVID-19 on Monday.
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