The state of Victoria has recorded Australia's highest daily case tally with 1838 new cases of Covid-19 and five deaths.
Residents in their cars queue at a drive-through Covid-19 testing facility at the Melbourne Showgrounds. Photo: AFP / Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
It marks the highest daily case tally in any Australian jurisdiction since the beginning of the pandemic.
The cases were identified from 77,554 test results, and bring the total number of active cases in the state to 16,823.
There were 36,600 doses of Covid-19 vaccines administered at state-run sites yesterday, and tens of thousands more through GPs and pharmacies.
More than 84 percent of Victorians have received one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, while more than 55 percent are now fully vaccinated.
Vaccination priority for Victorians with disability
From today, Victorians living with a disability will be able to get vaccinated at any state-run vaccination centre without a booking.
The government will also open 10 additional pop-up vaccination centres dedicated to people with disabilities in hotspot areas of concern later this month.
Minister for Child Protection, Disability, Ageing and Carers Luke Donnellan said lagging rates of vaccination in National Disability Insurance Scheme participants had spurred the government into action.
"This is very much about us stepping in. We're not happy with the vaccine rates at the moment," Donnellan said.
He said the quickly approaching roadmap dates for opening up the state had made vaccinating vulnerable communities an urgent priority.
"We're opening up, we need to deal with this now. And that's why we've stepped in."
NSW records 11 deaths in one day
New South Wales recorded 646 Covid-19 infections and 11 deaths yesterday.
Seven of the people who died were unvaccinated, three had received one dose and one had received two doses.
Five people who died were from south-west Sydney, three from Western Sydney, one was from the city's south-east, one was from Sydney's inner city and another from the lower north shore.
They were all aged between their 50s and 80s.
There have been 414 Covid-19 related deaths in NSW since 16 June 2021 and 470 in total since the start of the pandemic.
Nearly nine out of 10 people in NSW over the age of 16-years-old have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
As of yesterday, 89.4 per cent of the state's population aged over 16-years-old had received a first dose Covid-19 vaccine, and 70.3 per cent were fully vaccinated.
The latest figures comes days ahead of the state relaxing restrictions for the fully-vaccinated on 11 October.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet yesterday announced "major changes" to the state's roadmap out of lockdown.
While settings around hospitality and retail remain unchanged, Mr Perrottet departed from his predecessor's blueprint by increasing household visitors from five to 10.
He also raised the gap for gatherings in public spaces from 20 to 30 and increased the cap at weddings and funerals from 50 to 100.
- ABC