AS COVID-19 variant Omicron sweeps the state, Ballarat's high jab rates are proving the best line of defence against people in this community from becoming really sick.
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About 85 per cent of COVID-19 inpatients in Ballarat Health Services' Base Hospital were unvaccinated or had only had a single jab.
BHS acting chief Ben Kelly said community efforts, particularly the large uptake in vaccines, were keeping hospitalisations for the virus low and lessening severity in cases across the region.
Mr Kelly acknowledged challenges amid soaring case numbers - notably: testing delays, staff furloughs across industries, and undeniable, prolonged pressures on healthcare workers.
But he said this could have been much worse.
About 1.5 per cent of active cases in Ballarat on Thursday morning were patients in the Base Hospital. None were in intensive care.
There have been no COVID-19 patients in BHS' intensive care unit this wave, despite the hospital caring for patients in ICU amid previous COVID-19 surges.
"Certainly what we've seen is the severity of illness has been far less for those with vaccination," Mr Kelly said.
"...More broadly, that is one of the reasons we're not seeing people in ICU is because the vast majority of our community is vaccinated.
"We know that there's some people who can't be vaccinated but they're in the minority, fortunately, so it's not a strong focus for us whether people are vaccinated or not - we treat based on their symptoms - but the message is clear: those who are vaccinated are far less likely to experience severe symptoms."
That is one of the reasons we're not seeing people in ICU is because the vast majority of our community is vaccinated.
- Ben Kelly, Ballarat Health Services' acting chief executive officer
Mr Kelly was reluctant to focus on exact hospitalisation numbers each day because it was such a dynamic scenario, despite epidemiologists' claiming a focus would better gauge health system strain. But the low Ballarat trend was a strong sign.
There were eight COVID-19 patients in the Base Hospital early Thursday morning and a similar number of patients awaiting test results at that time.
This was as Ballarat's recorded a further 212 new infections, taking the city's case load to 531 known people with COVID-19 on Thursday morning.
Testing delays and the virulent nature of the now-dominant Omicron strain made for a fast-changing scenario for the community and health workers to tackle.
Mr Kelly said Ballarat's low hospitalisation rates reinforced how much community diligence still mattered - in masks, social distancing, hygiene, limiting exposure in busy settings and jabs - for best protection of yourself and your loved ones.
"Adhering to those simple messages, those simple tasks, set us in really good stead," Mr Kelly said.
"It was probably inevitable though, ultimately with the widespread nature of the virus and the changes with Omicron that yes, the prevalence has increased dramatically but (simple things) are still an important step and I appreciate the community continuing to do that.
"...The number of people who've had vaccinations - and now boosters - is really important and gives us some stability and a greater ability to manage this than we would have otherwise had previously without vaccinations."
The number of people who've had vaccinations and now boosters is really important and gives us some stability and a greater ability to manage this than we would have otherwise had previously without vaccinations.
- Ben Kelly, Ballarat Health Services' acting chief executive officer
The Base Hospital was no longer a streaming hospital for an overflow of Melbourne COVID-19 patients but Mr Kelly said BHS continued to work closely with neighbouring health services and partner health organisations, such as UFS, on the COVID-19 front.
And it was a constant juggle.
This week alone COVID-19 testing has been suspended due to a back-log in screening statewide and COVID-19 booster allocations for walk-ups were fast exhausted amid high demand.
Mr Kelly said that while frustrating and stressful for many people, there was also a positive in the community adhering to due diligence - earlier in the pandemic messaging was in encouraging people to get a test, then it was to get vaccinations.
Elective surgeries have also been cut from Thursday in a move by the Victorian government to free up hospital resources and staffing in this latest COVID-19 surge.
This comes in a week where hospital emergency departments and Ambulance Victoria again hit a pressure point in demand. Presentations to Ballarat's emergency department eased from Wednesday but Mr Kelly said it still took time to properly work through high numbers.
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"Yes we are under pressure, absolutely, but nonetheless all of those plans we put in place are standing us in good stead and the commitment of our staff is just phenomenal," Mr Kelly said.
"It's not just COVID or suspected COVID that we're dealing with...It's a little more complicated with the respiratory zones we've introduced the last couple of years.
"We've had high demand days in our emergency department and longer waits than we would like - no doubt about that. One of the things we've prided ourselves on for a long period of time is not having patients wait long periods of time over extended days in our emergency department but that's proving a real challenge at the moment.
"Again, our staff continue to work through delivering the best health services they can and are managing, in the context of the current circumstance, extremely well."
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