Clue Victoria’s past Omicron peak as state records 16,016 cases, 20 Covid deaths

Victoria’s testing chief has revealed the reason he thinks the state’s Omicron wave may have already peaked.

Victoria’s testing chief has revealed the state could have already reached its Omicron peak as case numbers hit its lowest level in weeks.

Jeroen Weimar made the announcement during Saturday’s Covid update, acknowledging infections “don’t seem to be going up”.

“The numbers are high, these are high numbers by any standard particularly given the cadence we had last year and the year before,” he said.

“If I look at the NSW numbers they’re on a similar kind of trajectory. We’re in a summer period and there’s a lot of people on holiday, a lot of people not going out and about as much as they otherwise might. Let’s see what happens post-Australia Day,” Mr Weimar said.

Mr Weimar also said the state was in a different position compared to the initial peak earlier in January.

Thousands of Victorians turned out to get tested on Friday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Sarah Matray

“I think we’re in a far better place than we were three weeks ago,” Mr Weimar said.

“We’ve got rapid antigen tests really flowing through our distribution channels, over eight million in the state now …. we’ve got case numbers under control,” he said.

“And I think people are more comfortable with how to manage those milder Covid symptoms … and we’re not seeing the huge pressure on our relief systems.”

Mr Weimar also said teachers could be substituted by retired educators when some are inevitably infected with Covid throughout the school year.

“I know there’s been a general call-out to encourage a standby workforce in the education sector,” he said.

“We’re very keen to ensure children can have as normal of an education experience compared to the challenges of the past two years.

“Part of that will be ensuring teacher workforces and staff are able to work as much as possible and there are backups in place in the event people get sick.”

The comments came as Victoria recorded 16,016 new cases and 20 Covid deaths in the past 24 hours.

There were 1029 infected people in Victorian hospitals, with 120 in intensive care and 39 on ventilators.

More than 93 per cent of eligible Victorians are fully vaccinated and the state has a mammoth 217,505 active cases.

A total of 39,179 PCR tests were taken on Friday and 27,051 vaccines were administered at state hubs.

Premier Daniel Andrews has held back on mandating third Covid vaccine doses. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

The new infections come as Victorian authorities held back on making a call to mandating Covid booster shots despite the move predicted to take place within the coming weeks.

While there is no word yet on mandates for industries outside of healthcare and other critical sectors, Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas on Friday said the state was moving “increasingly” to a three-jab regimen.

Authorities are waiting for advice on the issue before the state’s health Minister makes a decision.

“We are looking at how the third regimen will be applied, it is a regimen that should be treated much the same as the second dose was,” Mr Pallas said.

“Our expectation is that people would do it – they should do it for their health and their community, and we’re not ruling out the need for a mandate moving forward.”

Originally published as Clue Victoria’s past Omicron peak as state records 16,016 cases, 20 Covid deaths