Source: ABCnews
Victoria’s Acting Premier has hinted at potential changes to mask requirements but insists the state will continue to enjoy its current freedoms despite the threat of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
James Merlino said the state’s COVID-19 settings would not change despite calls from some health experts to reimpose some restrictions given the explosion of Omicron cases in New South Wales.
“There’s no lockdowns, events happen, no restrictions on getting together with loved ones, with family and friends to celebrate Christmas, to celebrate New Year, to enjoy the summer,” he said.
Mr Merlino said the government would continue to assess potential policy changes when it comes to the wearing of masks.
“We have seen through the federal Chief Medical Officer calling on the greater use of mask wearing indoors, we’ve had the [Victorian] Chief Health Officer say similar things, so we’ll take the latest advice,” he said.
“Mask wearing is a prudent, commonsense measure. It can be inconvenient but it’s a small inconvenience for a very significant public health benefit.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would present “strong recommendations” to an emergency meeting of national cabinet tomorrow for indoor mask use to continue.
However, Mr Morrison said he did not want the country to return to lockdowns in the face of Omicron, and instead urged people to take personal responsibility for limiting the spread of COVID.
COVID hospitalisations continue to rise
Victoria has recorded 1,245 new local COVID-19 cases and six deaths, as demand for testing overwhelms several sites in Melbourne.
Those who died were aged in their 60s, 70s and 80s.
There are 392 people in hospital with COVID-19, of whom 73 are in intensive care and 43 are on a ventilator.
The health department said a further 43 people were in ICU but their infections were no longer considered active.
The state’s seven-day average for hospitalisations has steadily increased over the past fortnight, from 296 on December 7 to 387 today.
The new cases were detected from 66,888 test results received yesterday.
The health department said no new Omicron cases were detected yesterday.
There are now 13,355 active cases of the virus in Victoria, and 641 people have died during the current outbreak.
Long waits again at testing centres
Melburnians hoping to get early COVID-19 tests this morning have again been frustrated by long queues and temporary venue closures.
Testing centres at Albert Park, South Melbourne, Burwood, Wantirna, and Keysborough all reached capacity shortly after opening this morning.
Victoria’s COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said yesterday the state government had increased testing capacity.
He also urged people without symptoms to consider using a rapid antigen test at home instead of joining the queue for a PCR test.
“If you’re symptomatic, come forward and get tested. If you don’t have symptoms but you’re just worried, use rapid antigen tests,” he said.
“We have these new tools available to us now, we should absolutely use them.”
