COVID case numbers continued to surge as the Victorian Government introduced new restrictions to slow the spread of Omicron across Victoria.
Swan Hill reported 16 new cases yesterday, taking its active total to 57.
Across Victoria, 21,997 cases and 631 hospitalisations. Fifty-one people in the state were in ICU, and there were six deaths.
In response to rising numbers in Victoria and waiting times to be tested, the State Government announced new rules regarding COVID testing yesterday.
Under the new pandemic orders, effective from today, people who test positive on a rapid antigen test (RAT) will be considered “probable cases” and not need to be followed by a PCR test.
However, it will be mandatory to report a positive RAT to the Department of Health through an online form or by phone.
The online reporting system will go live on January 7 and will include a symptom check for triage care.
A PCR test continues to be recommended for people who test positive on a RAT but don’t have symptoms and who aren’t contacts.
In further restrictions, Victorians aged eight and over must wear face masks in all indoor settings, including schools (excluding schools).
A new density quotient of one person per two square metres has also been introduced for indoor areas at hospitality and entertainment venues.
The government strongly recommended that the community undertake a RAT prior to visiting aged care facilities or hospitals.
It also issued a “strong recommendation” to work from home and study from home for adult education, and to do so until Australia Day.
Alongside the restrictions which the government hopes will slow down super-spreader events in public venues, the State Government announced that non-urgent elective surgery would temporarily be reduced in metropolitan and regional cities.
All emergency surgery and urgent elective surgery will continue.
Swan Hill District Health acting chief executive officer Kim Bennetts said attempting to reduce the spread of COVID was key, that would assist in reducing the pressure put on the healthcare services and its critical workforce.
“Our emergency department is currently experiencing very high demand at the moment and we are seeing people presenting with COVID symptoms,” she said.”To ensure the sickest patients can receive the care they need, we are asking the community to only present to ED if it is an emergency.”
It comes as health experts advised locals to be prepared to test positive as Omicron’s bushfire-like spread was expected to move through the community over the next two months.
And with hospitalisation numbers rising across Victoria, the key to avoiding further restrictions would be slowing down the rate of transmission by following COVID-safe behaviour.
That was the message from Wednesday night’s online COVID-19 community forum, shared via Mildura Rural City Council’s Facebook page, which discussed the current COVID outbreak across the country.
Speaking at the forum, Victoria’s COVID-19 Commander Jerome Weimar said the current Omicron outbreak would be a “bushfire-type experience”.
“We’re expecting those case numbers to continue to rise all of January, all the way into the back end of February,” Mr Weimar said.
He said there was likely to be an underreporting of cases as people struggled to access PCR testing, with the real number of actives cases “likely” to be around 100,000.
Mr Weimar told the online forum that testing positive via a rapid test would still provide access to triage and clinical support, along with access to Commonwealth pandemic payments.
And although lockdowns had been used to prevent the incursion of covid, Mr Weimar said avoiding further lockdowns would depend on the ability to suppress the current outbreak by other means.
“If we’re not going to use lockdown, then comes down to all of us individually, doing the right things and doing what we can to minimize and slow down that rate of transmission.
“If we can start to see those hospitalization numbers start to come down … that’s up about 200 in the space of eight or nine days. If those numbers don’t start to taper off, then we will have real problems and real pressures in our healthcare system.”
As the risk was high in the community, Mr Weimar said it was best to be mindful of potential exposure when going about day-to-day activities.
“In our normal day to day encounters, in the bakery, the supermarket and at the pub, we are likely to be socializing and around people who may have COVID and may not be aware of that.”
