Victorian COVID hospitalisation numbers drop to lowest point since last year
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The number of COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria has dropped to the lowest point since last year.
As of Tuesday, there were 441 people with the virus in hospitals across the state, including 67 in intensive care, and 14 on a ventilator.
Authorities say more elective surgery will be allowed to resume if COVID-19 hospitalisations continue to fall. Credit:Royal Children’s Hospital
The last time Victoria had fewer than 450 in hospital with the virus was on December 31, when 428 COVID-19 patients needed hospital care.
The statewide “code brown” declaration for hospitals lifted at noon on Monday, freeing up hospitals in regional Victoria to resume category two elective surgeries.
The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital also resumed category two elective surgeries on Monday. Health Minister Martin Foley flagged a further easing of restrictions would be considered if COVID-19 hospital admissions continued to fall.
Authorities are yet to announce when that might kick in. Public hospitals in metropolitan Melbourne remain restricted to emergency and urgent elective surgery.
University of Melbourne epidemiologist Nancy Baxter said she was hopeful Victoria would see COVID-19 hospitalisation numbers in a “continuous trajectory downward”.
“So, I think we’re kind of over that hump, and we’re not going to get to that hump again,” she said.
However, she said a substantial number of COVID-19 patients would continue to need hospital care because case numbers were still high, children had returned to school and more Victorian workers were returning to their office for work.
“I do think that we’re still seeing the full impact of students going back to the classroom, and people going to their offices more.
“It will be important to monitor the cases because it may be – not so much that I expect another peak – but it may well be that the slope of our downward slope gets a little … less steep, a little more shallow, and so it ends up taking longer for things to continue to come down than it would have.”
Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan said on Tuesday authorities wanted to bolster childhood vaccination rates, with the proportion of five- to 11-year-olds jabbed standing at more than 52 per cent.
Despite concerns the rate of paediatric vaccinations has slowed down, Ms Allan praised Victorian adults and children for embracing the vaccination program.
“We do want to continue to see that [childhood vaccination rate] get up to the rates of the general population, and it’s a pretty simple reason why,” Ms Allan said.
“We know vaccines work; we know they are incredibly effective at helping to prevent people from getting very sick. It really helps drive down the pressure on our hospital system because it reduces hospitalisation rates, which in turn, is really important for our hard-working health healthcare workers.”
Ms Allan said bolstering the childhood vaccination rate would require ongoing work with families, schools, and the healthcare sector.
Victoria recorded 8162 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and 20 deaths.
The cases came from 6128 self-reported rapid antigen test results, and 2034 PCR tests. Another 16,146 PCR tests were processed at state-run testing hubs on Monday.
At state-run vaccination clinics, 10,930 Victorians rolled up their sleeves to receive a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the proportion of the adult population who have received three jabs to 51 per cent.
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