Victoria has recorded a big drop in Covid cases with 11,695 new infections, 17 deaths

Dan Andrews has hatched a plan to help ease pressure on Victorian supermarkets dealing with crippling supply shortages.

A mass recruitment blitz is set to put a stop to part of Victoria’s supply chain crisis, with hundreds of workers needed across the state’s supermarkets.

Premier Daniel Andrews made the announcement on Monday morning, with state-run Jobs Victoria recruiting people for roles including shelf stacking and distribution.

More than 2000 people have already expressed interest in the program.

Coles’ executive manager of central operations, Kevin Gunn, said the scheme would help ease Omicron-induced supply issues.

“Every part of the food supply chain has seen increased numbers of staff isolating, from farmers, food processors and the transport sector to our distribution centres and stores,” he said.

Thousands of Victorians received their booster over the weekend. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

“The end result has been fewer products available for customers.”

Mr Andrews also acknowledged the past weekend saw more vaccine doses administered than any other since October.

“It’s the biggest weekend we’ve had in many months,” he said.

“That growth is steady, it’s great, but we have to do more and we have to do better.”

Victoria recorded 11,695 new cases and 17 Covid deaths in the past 24 hours.

There are now 998 infected people in Victorian hospitals, with 119 in intensive care and 47 on ventilators.

Victoria’s pre-Omicron peak for Covid hospitalisations was 851 in October when the state was battling a surge in Delta infections.

People line up for their booster vaccination at the Royal Exhibition Building. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

However, the figure is dwarfed by the 2816 people in NSW who are in hospital with Covid.

More than 93 per cent of eligible Victorians are fully vaccinated and the state has a mammoth 186,073 active cases.

A total of 4488 PCR tests were taken on Sunday and 22,940 vaccines were administered at state hubs.

Premier Daniel Andrews gives an update on return to school for 2022 during the Omicron Covid outbreak. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Originally published as Victoria has recorded a big drop in Covid cases with 11,695 new infections, 17 deaths