Coronavirus kills 17 in its deadliest day

Victoria faces a rising death toll, fears about mental wellbeing and a high number of health workers contracting the virus.

Daniella Altit keeps her 19-month-old triplets, Jackson, Amelie and Mia, close during a permitted outing for exercise in Prahran, Melbourne, on Sunday. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Australia has recorded its dead­liest single day of the coronavirus, with 17 people dying in Victoria, as new figures reveal the lockdown state is suffering through a deepening mental health crisis.

As strict restrictions across metropolitan Melbourne flatten the number of new COVID-19 ­infections — the 394 new cases reported on Sunday was its lowest tally since July 29 — Victoria now faces a rising death toll, fears about mental wellbeing and a high number of health workers contracting the virus.

Authorities are also concerned about a rising number of dead, with the nation’s death toll — 295 on Sunday — an increase of ­almost 100 in just one week.

The 17 new deaths included two men in their 50s, and 10 linked to nursing homes.

There have been 1061 ­Victorian nursing home residents infected and 125 aged-care deaths. With the fatality rate for Australians aged over 80 about one in five, authorities anticipate scores more will die.

But Deputy Chief Medical ­Officer Nick Coatsworth said new treatments developed since the start of the outbreak were ­reducing the fatality rate. “We’re also learning more and more … we’re applying new treatments and (medication) that’s demonstrating in a recovery trial to ­decrease mortality,” he said.

Victorian Premier Daniel ­Andrews was cautious about whether the second wave had peaked, saying only that numbers had “stabilised”. “Any day where there’s less cases than the previous day is a good one, but I wouldn’t want to be trying to predict (on) one day’s data or even a week’s data,” he said.

“We have only had a couple of days of stage-four settings, so we’re probably seeing the tail end of the stabilisation that was the product of stage-three rules.”

But the second COVID-19 wave and stage-four lockdowns have led to a significant surge in the number of people seeking help with mental health issues.

Bourke Street Mall in the Melbourne CBD on Sunday. Picture: David Geraghty

Victorian government figures ­reveal a 33 per cent increase in the number of people under 18 being treated in emergency departments for intentional self-harm over the past six weeks compared to the same period last year.

There has been 19 per cent more people treated for urgent mental health services over the same period and a 29 per cent ­increase in demand for mental health support services by phone.

“We know this is a time of great anxiety, stress and strain,” Mr Andrews said, as he ­announced a $60m boost to mental health funding to bolster acute services and reduce pressure on emergency departments.

Royal Australian and New ­Zealand College of Psychiatrists Victorian chairman Kerryn Rubin said it was expected that the coronavirus pandemic would create “a rise in high-prevalence” mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, and an ensuing increase in mental health presentations. “The economic and social ­impacts of the pandemic are likely to be long-lasting and far-reaching, and mental health consequences, including a possible increase in suicides, are expected to be present for longer and peak later than the actual pandemic,” Dr Rubin said.

Australasian College for Emergency Medicine president John Bonning said the COVID-19 pandemic was increasing both “numbers and complexities” of mental health ­issues seen in emergency departments.

“EDs, of course, have a key role to play in providing care to mental health patients, but they must be adequately resourced and supported,” Dr Bonning said.

“That role also cannot extend to caring for mental health ­patients waiting for definitive psychiatric care for days on end, simply because they have ­nowhere else to go.”

Mr Andrews said some of the new funding would be used for counselling services for healthcare workers, including nurses and carers. “We understand that many, many in our health team, particularly nurses, midwives, personal care workers, are doing it very tough,” he said. “This is a very challenging set of circumstances. And particularly those nurses and personal care workers who have gone into aged-care settings in fundamental crisis. You can’t unsee what you’ve seen.”

Another issue for Mr Andrews’ “healthcare heroes” is the alarming number contracting the virus — almost 300 over the past three days. There are 994 active cases among healthcare workers, which he admitted was increasing pressure on resources. Additional nurses have been called in from Western Australia.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews in Melbourne on Sunday. Picture: David Geraghty

“We have enough capacity, but every time we have another health worker who either because they’ve got the virus and have to isolate, or because they’ve been in contact with someone who has got the virus, they have to isolate, that does put additional pressure (on the system),” he said.

Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said medical, nursing and aged-care staff were “certainly very worried” and stressed about the volume of work.

“We are very concerned about the high number of healthcare workers infected,” he said.

Professor Khorshid said health staff were becoming infected at work. “Something has been breaking down in terms of the protocols put in place to protect people,” he said. “Healthcare workers are ­(exposed to) coughing, spluttering right in their face.”

He said wearing a simple surgical mask did not protect people from the coronavirus, especially those in close contact with others, and national guidelines needed to be strengthened.

“I’m certainly pleased the Victorian government is doing the right thing (in toughening guidelines around PPE),” he said.

Mr Andrews said Victoria had 2758 cases with an unknown source, including an additional 174 in the previous 24 hours.

“So that’s 174 of those mystery cases which are, in many respects, our biggest challenge,” he said. “They’re the ones that are incredibly challenging from a containment point of view.”