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GREATER Bendigo has recorded another 76 cases in the past 24 hours.
It brings the total number of cases in the municipality to 1136 as numbers climb above the 1100 mark.
Of the new cases, 29 were recorded in the city centre's 3550 postcode, six in Eaglehawk's 3556, 11 in Kangaroo Flat's 3555 and one in Heathcote's 3523.
Another 19 cases were found in the rural 3551 postcode.
Further south, Castlemaine's Mount Alexander Shire recorded six cases and the Macedon Ranges 86.
The Central Goldfields Shire recorded one, Loddon one, Campaspe 44 and Gannawarra one.
12pm
Victorian health minister Martin Foley has urged Victorian's who test positive to the virus but are able to safely monitor their symptoms at home, to make the most of the state government's COVID Positive Pathway program.
The program offers support to COVID-positive people isolating in their homes, which Mr Foley said, in turn can help reduce the number of people presenting to emergency departments increasing strain on a health system that is already under extreme pressure.
The call comes only one week after the government called a Code Brown across all metropolitan and six regional hospitals.
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"The program for Code Brown has brought a much stronger system wide focus across our healthcare networks, not just in metropolitan Melbourne but through large regional hospitals as well," he said.
"It's focused both systems attention and community attention on just what is the appropriate step to take in these high levels of demand.
"And while we have seen things stabilise over the course of the last week - which is a good thing - it stabilised at historically speaking, extraordinarily high levels."
The health minister argued it was extremely premature to consider the notion that Victoria has witnessed the peak of this outbreak, particularly with the return to school on the state's horizon and cases expected to increase again.
"Our health system continues to operate under extraordinarily trying circumstances," he said.
"Our entire healthcare staff are working under pressure like never before," he said.
Mr Foley outlined the importance of the program for at home support to not only take pressure off that healthcare system but to empower people with the confidence and support they need to monitor their symptoms at home.
"In most cases - overwhelmingly in the majority of cases - the support is there and we can get you through that in the best environment for that care - which is at home."
Earlier
VICTORIA has recorded another 14,836 COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths as the nation officially enters the third year of the pandemic.
Another 30,726 people took PCR tests with 6297 positive results returned while 8539 people reported positive rapid-antigen tests.
There were also 27,908 vaccinations on Monday, according to new Department of Health figures. A total of 32 per cent of people over 18 have now had three vaccines.
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A total of 1057 people are in hospital including 119 in intensive care and 45 on ventilators.
Tuesday marks the day Australia's first COVID-19 case was recorded in 2020. The first death came seven days later.
The day is being marked as meat supplies continue to be threatened by the Omicron wave and as the Victorian government prepares to send 25,000 rapid-antigen tests to utility companies, supermarkets and other key industries.
Greater Bendigo recorded another 80 cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, leaving it with 1097 active cases.
Health authorities are expected to publish numbers for the last 24-hour period later on Tuesday.
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