450 new cases reported, VCE students to be individually assessed

Sadly, another 11 deaths were reported taking the total death toll to 181.

A woman in her 50s, two men in their 70s, three men and three women in their 80s and two women in their 90s lost their lives due to COVID-19. Seven of those deaths were linked to aged care settings.

There are now 7637 active cases statewide. 1548 of those cases are linked to aged care and 1527 are linked to healthcare.

There are now 2454 total 'mystery cases', where the cause of infection is unknown. This is a daily increase of 66 cases.

Yesterday, Victoria recorded 471 new cases and eight deaths. It followed the state's darkest day on Wednesday when Premier Daniel Andrews announced 725 new infections and 15 deaths.

Education Minister James Merlino announced an "extraordinary" change to how special consideration will be given to Year 12 students.

"We know that there are many students, many parents that are worried about how COVID-19 will impact on their VCE scores and ATAR ranking," he said.

"Every single VCE student will be individually assessed and any adverse impacts from COVID-19 will be reflected in their ATAR score.

School closures, increases in family responsibilities, absences and the mental health and wellbeing of students during the pandemic will be taken into account.

"Students will go into VCE exams with confidence knowing they will not be impacted by COVID-19," Mr Merlino said.

"Their final scores will be a fair reflection of their year."

IN OTHER NEWS:

A second person officially recovered from COVID-19 this week, latest DHHS data revealed.

The Horsham Rural City Council local government area now has five active cases, down from seven on Monday.

Another case was removed from the Northern Grampians, leaving zero active cases and three historical cases there.

There are still two active cases in the West Wimmera and one active case in Ararat.

No active cases have been reported for the Yarriambiack or Hindmarsh shires.

Updated DHHS figures are expected this afternoon.

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