Despite rising case numbers and pressure on the hospital system, the Victorian State Government has ruled out introducing new mask mandates to try to curb the spread of Covid-19 and is instead encouraging employers to consider working from home arrangements.
Currently in the Yarra Ranges, approximately 1 in 100 people have Covid-19, making it the tenth highest infection rate out of the 79 councils in Victoria. There are currently 1059 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 people in the LGA and 1571 active cases.
Victoria also breached 800 Covid-19 hospitalisations on the weekend, which could see the state push into stage three of the ‘health system winter response’, that could see staff pulled back from leave to cope with demand.
Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas said last week there won’t be any changes to the current face mask requirements.
“Further mandating of masks was not the most effective way to get the message out about the importance of mask wearing,” she said.
“I want to assure the Victorian community that people that are slated for planned surgery are being actively managed within our health services.”
Victorians have been advised to wear masks indoors and in crowded settings, and are required to wear masks on public transport, in taxis and rideshare vehicles, in tourism vehicles, while visiting a hospital, care facility or publically accessible area in a healthcare setting, indoors in public if you are a close contact, publicly accessible area of a court or justice centre and certain other settings.
Currently, the fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine is recommended and available to Australians aged 30 and older.
Eildon MP and State Opposition Cindy McLeish said the Andrews Government must provide “straight answers to what advice is being received from the health department and what new mandates and restrictions are being considered.”
“Victorians cannot move forward with the threat of more lockdowns and mandates hanging over our head,” she said.
“The focus needs to be on recovering and rebuilding Victoria, not going backwards.”
As of 11.59pm on Tuesday 12 July, the period when someone is considered a recently confirmed case and is exempt from testing and isolation/quarantine requirements has been changed from 12 weeks to four.
Positive cases are still required to isolate for seven days from when they take a positive test, however, providing transport for a household member to obtain essential food has been added as an additional reason to leave home while isolating.
The State Government has also advised it won’t be asking hospitals to halt elective surgies, but despite this, the covid influx on the health system has pushed health providers to announce delays.
It’s been reported The Alfred has advised internally category two and three surgeries are likely to be delayed and Western Health, Bendigo Health and Royal Melbourne Hospital will have some surgeries delayed.
On Friday 15 July, Eastern Health announced because of “current bed access pressures and workforce challenges,” some delays for non-urgent procedures can be expected.
“We will continue to keep those on our waiting list informed if their situation changes,” Eastern Health said in a statement.
