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Victoria recorded 1268 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths on Saturday, as national cabinet considers rapid testing schoolchildren and educators after significant school outbreaks across the state.
There are 651 people in hospital, with 106 in intensive care and 70 on a ventilator according to the Department of Health. Over 82 per cent of eligible Victorians are fully vaccinated.
More than 65,000 test results were returned across Thursday, with 15,058 vaccination doses administered in state-run centres.
Victoria now has 16,662 active cases of the virus, a sharp drop from the 18,952 reported on Friday.
While Victorian schools have reopened after another long lockdown, children aged nine and under make up one in five current COVID-19 cases, delaying their reunions with friends and further disrupting their education.
Four-hundred and thirty Victorian schools have been exposed to a COVID-19 case so far this term, according to data published by the Department of Education and Training and collated by lobby group the Committee for Public Education.
Forty-four of Melbourne’s 337 Catholic schools reported a positive case this week.
The numbers of coronavirus cases connected to Victorian schools comes as national cabinet considers rapid testing school students, childcare educators, hospital workers and aged care staff in a bid to prevent outbreaks in high-risk settings.
On Friday, national cabinet tasked the federal Health Department and the country’s chief medical officers with designing a national guide on where and how often rapid antigen tests should be used and what to do with positive results.
State and territory leaders were advised by the Doherty Institute that twice-weekly rapid antigen testing of students could significantly reduce the chance of school outbreaks.
Children aged four and under make up about 6 per cent of the population but account for 19 per cent of unvaccinated Australians.
With Adam Carey, Anna Prytz, Rachel Clun and Katina Curtis.
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