Large numbers of COVID cases are being recorded in Victoria.Credit:Simon Schulter
Looker said the new monovalent vaccine available to Australians was particularly effective at keeping people with the JN.1 subvariant out of hospital. An alert issued by the chief health officer on Monday recommended a booster vaccine for those aged over 75and other vulnerable people who have not had a vaccine in the past six months.
However,Looker said when there was so much COVID about,focusing on stopping the disease spreading to others would make the biggest difference.
Those caring for or socialising with people at risk of severe disease should reduce their transmission through wearing high-quality masks and testing themselves for COVID,particularly if they are unwell,she said.
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Over 28 days in November and December,the latest period for which data is available,there were 168 COVID deaths reported in Victoria.
However,the state’s surging hospitalisation rates are probably exaggerating the number of people actually acutely unwell with the disease,said Professor Jason Trubiano,the director of infectious diseases and immunology at Austin Health.
He estimates about 80 per cent of those with COVID in his hospital were seeking treatment for unrelated ailments or procedures,meaning they had not been admitted as a direct result of COVID.
Nevertheless,Trubiano said the respiratory disease was causing significant disruption because of the need for intense infection control measures,reducing bed capacity as staff moved infected patients into individual rooms.
“You come in to have your appendix out and find you have COVID. You come in with cellulitis of your foot and you’ve got COVID. The vast majority are not unwell,it just has huge infection control implications,because it still spreads like wildfire.”
Trubiano said the impact of COVID began to be felt when the hospital reached about 40 COVID-infected patients. As of Monday,there were 55.
Similar trends have been observed at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne,where chief medical officer Dr Antony Tobin said the number of patients with COVID had risen from about four or five in October and November to 19 in December. He said while few patients were sick with the disease,it had a significant impact on hospital operations.