Victoria’s battle with COVID-19 has set a new record for deaths, with Premier Daniel Andrews this morning announcing 17 fatalities in the previous 24 hours and a daily tally of 394 fresh cases.
It is the greatest numbers of deaths in the pandemic so far anywhere in Australia, exceeding the previous of 15.
“This a very challenging set of circumstances,” Mr Andrews said, focusing on medical staff coping with pandemic in the state’s nursing homes, where 10 residents died in the prior 24 hours.
Another 634 active cases are being treated in hospital, with 43 in intensive care and 26 on ventilators
The latest death toll in the state that has become COVID-19’s Australian epicentre stands in stark contrast to Queensland, where medical authorities feared this weekend would a “critical” indication of the spread of the virus north of the Tweed.
Yet despite clusters of Queenslanders returning prior to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s closing of the borders no new cases were recorded.
Victoria’s performance also stands in contrast with NSW, where 10 fresh have been identified. One of those a returned overseas traveller, while seven have been tied to known sources. The remaining two are under investigation.
Mental health minister Martin Foley shared some sobering statistics about a spike in self-harm incidents presenting at Victorian hospitals, as he announced nearly $60 million in a new package for acute mental health care.
Mr Foley said Victorian emergency departments had seen a 33 percent jump in people under 18 presenting with self-harm, with such incidents increasing by 9.5 percent across the general population.
Hospitals have reported a 23.3% increase in people presenting in acute health settings with a mental illness, he said.
The new funding will extend more local and community mental health services, which often only run on business days, to seven days a week with more operating hours. Mr Foley said more psychiatric and allied professional health support will be offered, as well as increased capacity for record-keeping and data-gathering.
The state funding comes just days after the federal government tipped in around $12 million for services like Beyond Blue and Headspace to better support Australians – particularly young people – with COVID concerns.
“The pandemic is stressful. The pandemic is seeing anxiety and depression levels rise quite substantially, but there is help out there,” Mr Foley said.
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