Additional pressure is being placed on hospitals and healthcare workers across the country and advice has followed on how people can protect themselves and their families this winter.
Enhanced communications, community engagement and outreach, along with support for business to keep customers and workers safe and their doors open, are among the strategies.
The Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which are now dominant along the east coast of Australia, are expected to continue to cause increases in new cases, reinfections and hospital admissions — with a 53 per cent increase in the number of Victorians in hospital with COVID-19 over the last two weeks.
In recognition of this next phase of the pandemic and as part of our plan to protect our healthcare system, sensible changes to pandemic orders and public health recommendations will come into place at 11.59pm tonight, to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and ensure Victorians are aware of proactive steps they can take to look after themselves and each other.
A significant new investment will boost public health messaging and engagement efforts with the community to encourage third and fourth COVID-19 vaccination doses, flu vaccination, the benefits of wearing a mask and maximizing ventilation indoors.
The Government is also announcing another round of its Small Business Ventilation Grant Program to help businesses invest in equipment to keep workers and customers safe indoors.
In line with AHPPC advice,the period when someone is considered a recently confirmed case (and therefore exempt from testing and isolation/quarantine requirements) has been revised to four weeks, down from 12 weeks.
Positive cases are still required to isolate for seven days from the day they took their test but an additional reason to leave home has been added — to provide transport for a household member to obtain food, if essential. The infected person will need to remain in the car and wear a face covering at all times.
Mask wearing in indoor and crowded settings is strongly recommended to protect yourself and our most vulnerable
Victorians through winter — but there will not be any changes to current face mask requirements with these new pandemic orders.
The Health Minister is also requesting that employers consider working from home arrangements that are most appropriate for their workplace and employees based on individual requirements.
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