Dire warning Victoria will hit 18,000 active Covid cases in weeks and have 800 people in hospital – pushing overmatched ICUs to breaking point
- Victoria set to have 18,000 Covid cases by mid-October, new projections show
- Premier vowed to ease lockdown when at least 70 per cent has had one dose
- Health department data shows Victoria set to hit 18,000 cases by October 16
Victoria is on track to have 18,000 active Covid cases and 800 in hospital by mid-October, new modelling shows.
Premier Daniel Andrews promised to ease the state’s hard lockdown when 70 per cent of Victoria’s population has received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose.
But Health Department secretary Euan Wallace said he was ‘extraordinarily anxious’ about opening up too soon.
The department’s data shows Victoria will reach 18,000 active cases by October 16, a tenfold increase on the 1,920 infections in the community as of Wednesday.
Health department data shows Victoria is on track to reach 18,000 active Covid-19 cases by October 16. Pictured are health workers at the Melbourne Museum vaccination centre on Wednesday
The projection represents a tenfold increase in the state’s infection rate over the next month.
Healthcare chiefs are also bracing for a surge in demand, with 800 Covid patients forecast to need a hospital bed by the middle of next month, The Age reported.
‘Any easing of restrictions, we would expect these trajectories to steepen or stay the same,’ Mr Wallace said. ‘We’re certainly not going to flatten.’
Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton warned the number of active cases would likely increase significantly in the coming days.
‘We do have significant case numbers in Melbourne and those active numbers will almost double over the next week,’ he said.
‘The risk will increase in Melbourne, and we need to do our utmost to protect each other here, but to also protect regional Victorians by being hyper vigilant.’
Pictured: A woman walks along St Kilda Road in Melbourne. Premier Daniel Andrews has vowed to ease the state’s hard lockdown when 70 per cent of Victoria’s population has received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose but health officials have warned doing so could lead to a surge in cases
Victoria has recorded its most Covid cases since mid-August last year, hours before regional Victoria is released from lockdown
The state found 324 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday including a 2021 record 217 mystery infections not linked to previous cases.
They were diagnosed from 54,242 tests, the most in a day this year, and 37,604 vaccine doses were administered on Wednesday.
Thursday’s case number is the highest since August 13 last year when Victoria was in the latter stages of outbreaks that killed over 800 people.
The escalating outbreak is almost entirely in Melbourne, so restaurants, clothing stores and schools in regional Victoria will all be able to reopen tonight.
From 11.59pm on Thursday regional Victorians will be able to leave their homes for any reason, but still can’t visit each other’s houses.
The lockdown in regional Victoria will end as of midnight on Thursday while Melburnians remain under tough restrictions (pictured in Melbourne)
Limits on travel will be removed with the new rules applying to the entire state except for Shepparton and Melbourne, which are still recording many cases.
Businesses including hospitality, retail, hairdressers and entertainment facilities will all be able to welcome back customers with patron density caps.
Ten customers will be allowed to dine indoors and 20 outdoors at hospitality venues.
Indoor seated entertainment venues can open for 20 people and outdoor seated venues can host 25 per cent capacity or 300 patrons, whichever is fewer.
Theme parks can reopen for 25 per cent capacity but nightclubs will stay shut.