An infectious diseases expert says the number of COVID-19 patients in hospital will largely dictate when Victoria's Omicron wave has reached its peak as the state today recorded 22,180 new cases and 22 deaths.
There are now 1152 people hospitalised across the state and 43 people on ventilators.
https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1483199535174529025Professor Sanjaya Senanayake told Today this morning that the reported cases do not tell the whole story.
"The reality is, I think it will be hospitalisation data which tells us when we've reached the peak ... the reason being that the numbers that the chief health officers are telling us every day about their state or territory are likely to be very inaccurate because there's just so much Omicron out there," he said.
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In Victoria case numbers are likely to peak in mid-February putting additional pressure on a system already facing staff shortages and burnout.
Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton yesterday warned a number of asymptomatic COVID-positive people would likely be out and about in the community, not knowing they were infectious, and therefore not getting tested.
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Professor Sutton said COVID-19 hospitalisations are expected to peak sometime in mid-February, but ultimately it depended on case numbers.
"We are going to have more people infected in recent months than we have seen in the entire pandemic," Professor Sutton said.
Positive results from RATs could rise in coming weeks though, with an initial shipment of three million being rolled out across the state.
People with symptoms are still encouraged to get a PCR test if they are able.
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