Victoria’s coronavirus crisis has worsened further after another 270 cases were detected in the past 24 hours, including more in aged care facilities.
It’s Victoria’s third-highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic, despite some Melbourne “hot zones” enduring almost a fortnight of a stage-three lockdown.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said there were now more than 1,800 active cases in the state and hospitals were preparing to care for at least a “couple of hundred” patients.
“That’s a really significant number of people with coronavirus and it does mean that in the next fortnight, we’re going to see a number of people who will require hospital,” he said.
“There’s often 10 to 20 per cent of all coronavirus infections who require hospitalisation, so that’s a couple of hundred individuals at least.
“They will require hospitalisation in the next couple of weeks.”
He said the state was facing a “challenging situation” in aged care, where several sizeable outbreaks are causing concern.
“Often it’s a single staff member or a few staff members, but [there are] a few significant outbreaks with a number of residents.”
There are now 28 cases of coronavirus confirmed at Menarock Life aged care at Essendon, with both staff and patients affected.
“We haven’t turned the corner yet,” Professor Sutt