A LACK of clarity about long-COVID's lingering impacts means there is yet to be a clear treatment path for people who continue to struggle with the virus in Ballarat.
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Grampians Health acting chief executive officer Ben Kelly confirmed there were no plans for a dedicated long-COVID clinic in the region despite media reports of Victorians on public waiting lists of more than six months for the vital, specialised support.
The health service has been grappling with a rise in emergency department numbers at Ballarat Base Hospital, combined with staff shortages due to COVID-19 and influenza.
Mr Kelly said Grampians Health had not seen many long-COVID cases in emergency - and did not expect to. The Courier understands most people with long COVID typically present to their general practitioner with symptoms such as a crippling fatigue, brain fog or muscle problems.
A Geelong GP opened the state's first long-COVID clinic, for private patients, while public patients can also access long-COVID care in Royal Melbourne Hospital.
[A long-COVID clinic] comes back to what volume of demand is and that's not particularly clear at the moment about what the impact of long-COVID is.
- Ben Kelly, Grampians Health acting chief executive officer
"We would never say never to anything, but it comes back to what volume of demand is and that's not particularly clear at the moment about what the impact of long-COVID is," Mr Kelly said.
"A number of agencies are undertaking studies and monitoring it ... if there was a demand, if there was a need we would certainly look at that in the future but we have no plans."
Health economist Martin Hensher flagged in The Courier in April a lack of national surveillance on long-COVID was delaying a response for best treatment.
Federation University immunologist Professor Stuart Berzins last month said researchers knew little about the prevalence of long-COVID and what triggered it, particularly with the virus' Omicron strains that hit Ballarat from the Christmas-New Year period.
Adding to uncertainty, Deakin University epidemiologist Catherine Bennett told The Courier this week active COVID-19 case numbers were unreliable due to obvious under-reporting.
Ballarat recorded 179 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with 815 known active infections.
Victoria's health department has made clear anyone with COVID-19 symptoms must stay home and seek medical advice from a GP to best prevent community transmission. Good hygiene, social distancing and mask-wearing were still highly advised.
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