Plea for COVID boosters every six months as Ballarat's COVID case numbers rise

According to figures released last week, there were 112 COVID-19 cases reported in Ballarat in the seven days to last Friday.

With a rate of 98.6 active cases per 100,000 it means Ballarat has the highest per capita rate in the state; and the 3350 postcode taking in much of the city had the highest number of active cases of any postcode in the state.

Grampians Health chief strategy and regions officer Rob Grenfell said the real number of cases was likely much higher, with estimates only about 30 per cent of people report a positive test.

The virus was likely circulating widely across Ballarat because there were still many people who had not had the virus, or had contracted it more than six months ago.

"We've got a population that certainly around 2020/21, had a very low figure of COVID because we managed managed as a community to hold down outbreaks and control them pretty quickly ... which means we were starting with a population who have less had it," he said.

"But we are looking at a surge in cases ... for a couple of reasons. One is that a lot of people had their last vaccination six to 12 months ago and a lot of people had COVID six to 12 months ago which makes them prone to catching it again.

"And the other group we are very concerned about ... is those over 75 who should be having vaccination four or five. That group have been isolating quite well but now as they move about the community and the community has a lot of circulating virus they are picking it up for the first time."

Dr Grenfell urged adults, particularly those over 75 or in high risk groups, to ensure they get their next vaccination.

All Victorians who have not had a COVID vaccination or confirmed infection in the past six months are eligible for a booster, regardless of how many prior doses a person has received.

"There's no place for complacency," he said.

About 75 per cent to 78 per cent of people over 60 around Ballarat have had a fourth dose vaccination.

"We are doing very well compared to the rest of the state, but it could be a lot better," he said. "Get a booster every six months, and the most important thing is if you've got symptoms to do a test and if positive isolate for five days so you are doing your bit to reduce the spread.

"It's still very important that people do take this seriously.

"People need to realise that for every COVID-positive patient in the ward that's a bed we can't use for something else. That's why we are trying to get people not to catch the virus."

Dr Grenfell said hospitals were still struggling with staffing.

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"Maintaining staffing levels continues to be a challenge. I guess all employers in the Ballarat region would be asking 'why is it so hard to find people to work at the moment?". Some people may be sick, some not feeling 100 per cent going off to work, and on the other side of that a lot of us have got a bit of malaise whether it's because of the stress we've been through or post-COVID, we're all feeling a bit worn out."

Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton said there had been an increase in COVID cases and a decrease in hospitalisations across the state last week.

There were 3319 COVID-19 cases reported in Victoria last week, an increase of 10.5 per cent on the previous week

"Recent transmission has been driven primarily by waning immunity and influenced by multiple emerging Omicron sublineages," he said.

"The Omicron recombinant strain XBB.1.5 (38 per cent) has overtaken XBF (30 per cent) as the most prevalent COVID variant in weekly wastewater detections."

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