By Cam Lucadou-Wells and Shelby Brooks
The City of Casey and Cardinia Shire have both recorded massive jumps in active Covid-19 cases as infections in the South East continue to soar, overtaking the North West as the state’s epicentre.
On Sunday 24 October, Cardinia experienced the largest increase in the number of active Covid-19 cases for weeks with 69 new active cases in 24 hours.
Before that, the largest recorded increase was for Sunday 17 October when 38 active cases were listed in 24 hours.
But case numbers don’t appear to be on the rise in Cardinia, with only 19 new Covid cases recorded for Monday 25 October, with a total of 1155.
Casey saw 166 new cases recorded for Monday 25 October, bringing the total active case number to 2617.
It comes as government data showed several sites in Cardinia and Casey were linked to key outbreaks.
Twenty-two active cases have been linked to Vizzarri Farms, a Kooweerup asparagus farm.
Berwick Fields Primary School and Berwick Lodge Primary School each had 13 active cases linked to them, while Bridgewood Primary School in Officer had 11.
Cranbourne West Primary School was also shut on Tuesday 26 October for deep cleaning after an active cases attended the school on Friday 22 October.
In terms of vaccination rates, Cardinia has reached more than 95 per cent of the population with a single vaccination dose, while second dose rates sit at 75.9 per cent.
Neighbouring Casey has surged to meet and exceed the state averages, with 74.5 per cent fully vaxxed and 95 per cent single dosed.
With easing statewide restrictions, the South East had been of concern to health authorities due to soaring infections and lagging vaccination rates.
Postcode hotspots in Casey are Cranbourne (768 active cases), Narre Warren (442) and Hampton Park (289).
