Victoria’s cases swell as reopening looms
NSW hospitals under pressure, infant on ventilator
Victoria’s Covid-19 cases are showing no signs of slowing, and the state’s Covid Response Commander Jeroen Weimar is now warning residents to prepare for “significant” community transmission.
Weimar said the majority of the transmission events were occurring in households, particularly in the northern and western Melbourne suburbs.
“We are also seeing significant transition particularly in small businesses that are embedded in our community.”
Victoria recorded 246 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours to midnight yesterday — the highest number of daily infections the state has seen during this outbreak.
Of the 246 new local cases, 121 are linked to known cases and outbreaks and the source of the other 125 cases are under investigation.
Despite the rising cases, the vaccination rate means residents could see eased restrictions sooner than expected as the state barrels towards its 70 per cent first dose vaccination goal. Last week, Premier Daniel Andrews announced that when 70 per cent of the population has received one dose of the vaccine then modest eased restrictions could be brought in. This was initially due to happen on September 23 but with vaccination rates ramping up, the rules could be eased earlier — 37.6 per cent of the eligible population is now fully vaccinated, while 60.3 per cent have had their first dose.
However, there are concerns Victoria could be on the same outbreak trajectory as NSW.
On Saturday, chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton admitted Victoria could be following in the footsteps of its northern neighbour.
“There’s every possibility that we’re following a slow and steady increase in the way that NSW has.”
Andrews warned last week that cases would continue to rise as he announced the state was moving away from an elimination strategy and focusing on vaccination rates.
Over the weekend, Sutton said it was still unclear when the state’s infections would peak.
“The trend over seven-day periods has been incremental increasing and I expect that to happen until we get higher vaccination coverage,” he said.
In New South Wales, Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned the outbreak will put the state’s hospitals
under pressure as case numbers continue to rise through next month.
The state yesterday recorded 1281 new local cases of Covid-19 and five deaths. There have been 131 Covidrelated deaths in NSW since the beginning of the current outbreak.
More than one in 10 people in NSW diagnosed with Covid-19 now require hospitalisation, according to the latest NSW Health figures.
The number of Covid-infected children in NSW has climbed to 2000, and a baby and a child aged under 10 have been placed on ventilators in a Sydney intensive care unit. The infant is believed to be one of the youngest children with Covid-19 ever treated in an ICU in Australia.