VISITOR numbers allowed at Mildura Base Public Hospital are back to normal after two years of pandemic restrictions, but health services remain under pressure as flu case numbers escalate.
In line with changes to Victorian Health Department rules across the state, the Mildura hospital dropped limits on visitor numbers in all areas other than the emergency and outpatients departments, and also discarded the use of QR-code check ins, on Saturday morning.
The ED and outpatient areas retain a limit of one visitor per person, but the hospital says this is because of space limitations.
Mask-wearing is still compulsory for all visitors, and COVID-19 screening will continue at entry. Unvaccinated visitors will be required to take a rapid antigen test before entering and will have to wear high-protection N95 surgical masks.
Pandemic rules meant that no visitors at all were allowed until late last month, when restrictions were eased to allow them in very limited numbers.
A hospital spokesperson said people who had tested positive to COVID, showed COVID symptoms or were close contacts of an infected person would not be allowed to enter, and that visitors seeing COVID-positive patients would be limited to one at a time and would have to wear full PPE.
They said that Mildura COVID case numbers remained high, with dozens of new infections every day, and that the emergency department had been very busy over the long weekend so far.
"The return of winter sport probably contributes to that, but there's certainly still plenty of COVID around and now we've got the flu as well," they said.
"It's still important that people don't go to the emergency department if they can avoid that. Nurse-On-Call (phone 1300 60 60 24) and other services are available."
About 7000 new COVID cases were recorded in Victoria on Sunday, 66 of these in the Mildura local government area, which had a total of 460 active cases. There were no new cases in the Robinvale postcode, which is outside the LGA, and there were just 10 active cases there.
The return of the flu this winter, however, is causing great concern across health services nationally. Case numbers have been at record lows during the pandemic, as COVID measures also protected against the common winter virus, but many people may now have lower flu immunity as these protections fall away.
According to the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System, there were 409 confirmed cases of the flu in Australia in March, compared with 598 for all of last year.
In 2020, NNDSS recorded 21,266 influenza cases, a huge decrease from the 313,033 in 2019.
There were 906 flu deaths in 2019, before the pandemic, but just 36 in 2020.
Although well established and considered successful in saving lives and taking pressure of the health system, Australia's flu vaccination programs also face the challenge of convincing people to have yet another injection after two or three COVID jabs.
In a survey by Australian vaccine manufacturer Seqirus, three out of 10 people said they did not intend being vaccinated against the flu this winter.
Seqirus said that only 45 per cent of Australians aged 18-64 have had their flu vaccine this year, compared with 71.8 per cent at the same time last year. Just two-thirds of Australians 65 and older have had their flu vaccine, compared with almost 90 per cent at the same time last year.
Dr Jonathan Anderson, the Seqirus head of medical affairs in the Asia Pacific, said the peak flu season in Australia usually began in July, so there was still time to lift vaccination rates.
"Flu vaccination remains as important as ever. While high rates of vaccination and social distancing had driven down influenza rates last season, we can't be complacent about the potential impacts of flu," Dr Anderson said.
