Image: Some testing sites have been overwhelmed with demand before even opening in Melbourne this morning. ABCnews
Source: ABCnews
Victoria has recorded 1,245 new local COVID-19 cases and six deaths, as demand for testing overwhelms several sites in Melbourne.
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.
There are now 13,355 active cases of the virus in Victoria, and 641 people have died during the current outbreak.
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.”
