Uh-oh, it's back in significant numbers!

JUST when you thought it was safe to shake off the COVID cobwebs and get on with your life, the BA.4/BA.5 strains of Omicron come sweeping across the countryside.

And according to the Department of Health, there’s a significant rise in case numbers on the way.

What you would like to see is a bipartisan political approach to what’s best for the community, but as we saw this week, no such luck.

While the Premier Daniel Andrews came out this week and said there’s definitely a need to extend the state’s pandemic declaration, the Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said ‘no’.

“Extending these laws means a longer, slower road to recovery,” said Mr Guy.

“The threat of mandates, lockdowns and restrictions remain,” he said.

But Mr Andrews believes a serious risk still remains:

“In making the declaration, I am satisfied on reasonable grounds that there continues to be a serious risk to public health throughout Victoria due to the coronavirus disease which requires continued public health and other protective measures to reduce the risk of transmission and hospitalisation.”

“As part of Victoria’s continued response to the coronavirus pandemic and as we continue to manage the challenges winter presents, I have extended the pandemic declaration to apply to the State of Victoria from 11.59pm Tuesday 12 July for three months.

“The pandemic declaration gives the Minister for Health the authority to make pandemic orders she considers reasonably necessary to protect public health after considering the Chief Health Officer’s advice and other relevant factors, including social and economic factors.

“Recently, a number of modest and sensible changes to pandemic orders were made to allow Victorians to live safely with COVID-19 while reducing transmission and hospitalisations.

“This extended declaration will enable those key settings to remain in place over winter, protecting Victorians and our health system.

“The declaration was made under section 165AE of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 after consultation with, and consideration of advice from, the Minister for Health and Acting Chief Health Officer.”

Mr Andrews said the declaration would be reviewed at the end of winter.

Respiratory Clinics in Gippsland

In response to the latest rise in case numbers, the State Government has added 26 new GP respiratory clinics across the state, no new ones in Gippsland but the existing ones will continue to be supported.

They provide important care close to home, reducing the number of visits to hospital.

The respiratory clinics allow patients with low to moderate symptoms to receive free and immediate treatment for a range of respiratory conditions such as asthma, influenza and pneumonia.

People wanting COVID-19 testing can visit any of these respiratory clinics across Gippsland. If your preferred clinic is full at your preferred time, try another. It’s important to be tested as quickly as possible and isolate until you receive a negative result. Many clinics offer both testing and vaccination so be sure that you are booking the service you need.

· Wonthaggi Respiratory Clinic, 42 Murray Street Wonthaggi (via Biggs Drive). Open weekdays 1-5pm. Book online or phone 0492 036 568.

· Foster Respiratory Clinic, 97 Station Road, Foster. Open weekdays, 9am-1pm. Book online or phone 5682 2088. Appointments needed, no referral required.

· Warragul Respiratory Clinic, 170 Normanby Street, Warragul (enter through Stoffers Street car park). Open weekdays 9am-5pm. Book online or phone at 5642 6666. Appointment needed, no referral required.

· Latrobe Valley Respiratory Clinic, 185-189 Princes Drive, Latrobe. Open weekdays 9am-5pm. Book online or phone 5191 9321. Appointments needed, no referral required.

New Omicron variants now dominant

The prevalence of Omicron strains BA.4/BA.5 in Victorian clinical genomic surveillance and metropolitan and regional wastewater catchments continues to rise significantly, which is indicating that this is now the dominant circulating strain in the community, with BA.5 greater than BA.4.

The BA.4/BA.5 sub-lineages were first identified in catchments in April and have since risen from under 5 per cent in late May to an average of 43.5 per cent across all Victorian wastewater catchments by June 27.

BA.4/BA.5 has now become the dominant strain in wastewater detections in major population centres including Greater Geelong and Melbourne.

BA.4/BA.5 has become the dominant strain in clinical genomic samples, rising to 50.3 per cent in the 2 weeks prior to June 20.

Case and hospitalisation trends are now increasing in Victoria. This is in line with similar patterns globally and in NSW and Queensland where both states have seen a significant rise in the number of people hospitalised with COVID-19 in recent weeks.

The Department of Health anticipates a further increase in cases - including reinfections - and hospital admissions and deaths in the coming weeks due to BA.4/BA.5.

This is because the strain has a greater ability than BA.2 to evade immunity provided by vaccination and earlier COVID-19 infection.

There is no evidence at this stage that the BA.4/BA.5 sub-lineages causes more severe disease, but the Department is closely monitoring the situation.

The Department strongly encourages Victorians to remain up to date with their vaccines, in particular people eligible for third and fourth doses, and to stay home if unwell and test for COVID-19.

Consider wearing a mask

The wearing of masks and measures to make indoor air safer will have a significant impact in reducing transmission of the BA.4/5 sub-variants. Masks continue to be strongly recommended in shared indoor settings, if you can’t physically distance or you are with those more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Improve ventilation by opening doors and windows, using fans or purifiers, and gathering outside where possible.

Face masks are still required for everyone aged 8 and above in some locations, including on public transport, rideshares and taxis, and in sensitive settings such as hospitals and care facilities.

They are also required by household contacts in quarantine who meet the criteria for leaving home.

If you test positive on a rapid antigen test, report your result to ensure you have access to the right level of care if you need it.

COVID-19 medicines are available for eligible Victorians at increased risk of severe illness if they are infected with COVID-19.

If you are eligible for early treatment and you develop symptoms, get tested as soon as you can and consult your GP or GP respiratory clinic so you can get access to medicines, which are available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

These antiviral medications if taken early (within 5 days of symptoms), they can reduce the severity of COVID-19 symptoms, make the need for hospitalisation less likely, and reduce the risk of loss of life from COVID-19.

To access the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Victoria, visit the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Victoria website or call the 24-hour Coronavirus Hotline on 1800 675 398.

COVID daily update

There are 543 COVID-19 cases in hospital in Victoria – with 23 active cases in ICU, including 5 on a ventilator, and an additional 5 cleared cases in ICU.

A total of 68.4 per cent of Victorians aged 16 and over have had 3 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and 94.6 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over have had 2 doses.

There were 8740 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Tuesday, July 5, this includes 6929 who tested positive on a Rapid Antigen Test and 1811 who returned a positive result on a PCR test.

Sadly, the Department was notified of 16 deaths on Tuesday of people aged in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. This brings the total number of deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began to 4009.

There are 49,253 active cases in Victoria. 9000 PCR tests were processed on Tuesday. The total number of PCR tests performed in Victoria since the pandemic began is 21,470,894.