IMAGE: The number of new cases detected in the community has been declining in recent weeks.(ABC News: Peter Drought)
Source: ABCnews
Victoria has recorded the deaths of 29 more people with COVID-19, two years after the virus was first detected in the state.
The number of people in hospital with the virus sits at 1,057, up from 998 yesterday.
Of those in hospital, 119 are in intensive care units, and 45 are on ventilators.
There were 14,836 new cases officially reported in the state, a jump from the 11,695 a day earlier.
The total was reached through 8,539 rapid antigen tests (RATs) and 6,297 PCR test results. A total of 30,726 PCR tests were processed, about 10,000 more than the day before.
It brings the number of officially reported active infections to 183,154.
From 1 to 1,889,757 with no end in sight
Two years ago today, Australia recorded its first COVID case in Victoria. Within days we’d have more cases, within weeks our own lockdowns, writes Leigh Tonkin.
A recent drop in PCR testing numbers, asymptomatic infection and the lack of data on how many rapid tests are being administered means the true number of cases in the community could be much higher.
About 32 per cent of Victorians aged 18 and above have had a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which is seen as essential in curbing the spread of the Omicron wave.
The thousands of new infections were reported a year after the first case of COVID-19 was detected in Victoria.
Since then, there have been more than 1,800 deaths recorded in the state.
More than 740,000 cases have been detected through PCR tests and thousands more through RATs — a majority of those cases just in the recent Omicron wave.
Groundbreaking vaccine developments in the years since a pandemic was declared have somewhat softened the blow of the dramatic new spike, with 93 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and above having at least two doses.
