Grampians Health public health expert Rob Grenfell has reiterated the importance of getting the basics right to best look after yourself and the wider community. Right now that was hard to gauge.

"The COVID pandemic has not gone away and we continue to have challenges in our community and also across our health system in regards to ongoing cases," Dr Grenfell said.

He suggested the only "good measure" to estimate transmission was by hospital admissions and by looking at the number of staff absences in workplaces. But there was no clear way to determine whether this COVID-19 wave had reached its peak yet.

"We are certainly of the understanding there are many members of our community who are not testing in the first instance and there are others who are not reporting...that then means the reported numbers are a low estimation of what's actually occurring in the community," Dr Grenfell said.

Deakin University leading epidemiologist Catherine Bennett flagged proven COVID-19 under-reporting emerging from an anti-body study that emerged in June.

There were 146 new COVID-19 cases reported in the City of Ballarat, with more than 1000 active infections, according to Victorian health department data released on Wednesday.

Dr Grenfell said the whole community was impacted and at risk with the Omicron sub-variants "as infectious as measles" and evading both infection and vaccine immunity. He said this was why booster jabs were so vital - they helped resist severe illness from infection and especially when health experts could not fully measure the virus' grasp.

Rapid Antigen Tests remain the primary health tool for detecting COVID-19 and this will be offered first to people presenting at the Grampians Health testing site on Creswick Road.

Dr Grenfell said many people were likely testing negative on RATs because they were not adequately testing by the instructions.

"I know it's awfully a lot of discomfort putting that swab up your nose but the important thing is to follow and sample adequately," Dr Grenfell said. "Otherwise the tested result when negative, you may have missed it."

Dr Grenfell urged anyone living with someone who had tested positive to COVID-19 to also quarantine, even if not a rule, and to keep testing because "you will catch it - it's that infectious".

PCR testing at Creswick Road was primarily for emergency services and healthcare workers and the community's most vulnerable but Dr Grenfell said people testing negative on a RAT with symptoms should consider a PCR for certainty.

Dr Grenfell made clear if you tested positive to COVID-19 on a RAT, you did not need a polymerase chain reaction test (better known as a PCR) - you had COVID-19.

Reporting results also ensured Grampians Health could best respond to those who might need support most, including swift access to anti-viral treatments that also prevented severe illness with the virus.

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Grampians Health has had people presenting with their second or third COVID-19 infection. Dr Grenfell said there were many mixed reports about long-COVID factors and what reinfections might mean in the long-term, including the potential to impact vital body organs.

The best way to prevent severe illness from COVID-19 was to be up-to-date with vaccinations. Dr Grenfell said Grampians Health had shifted from counting doses in adults to instead calling on people to seek boosters on schedule. For some of Ballarat's most vulnerable, this is already receiving a fifth jab.

This comes as the Australian government prepares to roll out Moderna vaccines for immunocompromised children aged under five. Dr Grenfell said this would offer some comfort to parents of children with complex medical conditions.

Mask up is Dr Grenfell's best advice to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and influenza, with rates also high this season. He reiterated masks were an important tool when mixing with people outside your household when indoors.

Other key prevention tips include social distancing, hand hygiene, meeting people outside and cleaning common surfaces.

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