Health Minister Martin Foley has defended the state government’s decision to further relax mask and vaccination rules despite Victoria recording the highest average daily coronavirus death rate in June.
So far this month, Victoria has recorded an average of almost 18 deaths each day from the virus, up from an average of 15 a day in May and the highest daily rate for any month since the pandemic began in early 2020.
Martin Foley talks to media at the Royal Children’s Hospital on Sunday.Credit:Scott McNaughton
Foley said all deaths were a tragedy, but he insisted Victoria was in a position to further relax restrictions following advice from public health officials.
“The public health advice was at this stage of the pandemic, lifting those restrictions makes public health sense,” he said on Sunday. “I’m more than happy to follow that public health advice because it’s steered Victorians well through what has been a very challenging time.”
But head of Monash University’s epidemiological modelling unit, Associate Professor James Trauer, called for more transparency and publicly available data around who is dying after being infected with coronavirus in Australia.
“Given there are so many of them (deaths) each day, we really need more information now,” Trauer said.
“There’s just not enough of a breakdown. For this month, for example, we need to know what proportion of people had their third dose? Or what proportion of eligible people have only had three doses, but not four as recommended?”
Such information could help guide vaccine targeting, Trauer said, and determine whether waning immunity from waiting too long between doses was a driving factor in poorer outcomes.
Trauer said he would also be interested to know how many people had been given antiviral treatments before they died and whether there was a need to increase access.
Victoria’s health system has been under enormous strain in recent months, with hospitals struggling amid soaring patient numbers, staff shortages and a massive backlog of surgery.
Under changes announced over the weekend, people at Victorian airport terminals will no longer need to wear masks. But masks will still be required on public transport, taxis, ride-shares and planes.
Victorians who have COVID-19 will be allowed to drive children to school from next weekend.
Visitor caps at residential aged care and disability facilities will be lifted, meaning residents can see any number of visitors as long as they return a negative result on a rapid antigen test.
Some epidemiologists have criticised the decision, warning it will further jeopardise the elderly and people with underlying health risks while adding to strain on the health system as the winter flu season continues to bite.
University of South Australia biostatistics professor Adrian Esterman said the new rules were contradictory, and people should continue to wear masks on planes, in airports and on public transport.
“I think it’s a very bad move. It smacks of the government and government authorities treating this as if it’s all over,” Esterman said on Saturday.
Government-imposed third-dose mandates in education, food distribution, meat and seafood processing, and quarantine accommodation sectors will also be lifted.
As almost 95 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and older have had two COVID-19 vaccine doses, rules requiring general workers to work from home unless they are double-vaccinated are lifted. Employers can still set their own workplace conditions.
Foley said the changes were “proportionate and appropriate”. He said Victoria’s pandemic laws required him to take advice from a range of sources, including public health experts and businesses.
“And we’ve synthesised all that advice into the public health orders.”
On Sunday, Foley also announced work to expand the emergency department at the Royal Children’s Hospital would start next month.
He said the state’s busiest paediatric emergency department was experiencing more than 300 presentations a day. He said a first stage of expansion was on course to be completed by the end of the year, including a new ward for young patients with a range of conditions including cancer.
A second stage will boost the capacity of the emergency department, allowing it to treat an extra 13,140 children a year.
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2022-06-19 05:50:33Z
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