Vaccinations helping case numbers, hospitalisations stay low: Sharp

Goulburn Valley Health chief executive Matt Sharp said the entire GV Health local public health unit area had reached a COVID-19 vaccination rate of 95 per cent double-dosed, and he thanked Greater Shepparton City Council and “a number of different agencies” which had worked closely with GV Health across the region.

He said cases had, by and large, declined, with four cases each on Tuesday and Wednesday and 22 on Thursday, the latter among 1007 across Victoria.

There are 10 people in hospital in Shepparton with the virus, none of which are in ICU.

“It really speaks to a number of things, I guess, in terms of people continuing to do the right thing, which is terrific,” Mr Sharp said.

He said changing restrictions made it more important than ever to continue checking in at venues and events and keeping an eye on the Service Victoria app.

“The app is going to be the main way people will be alerted, and in the circumstances they may be exposed to a positive case,” Mr Sharp said.

“I think people are doing the right thing and getting tested when they should.”

Mr Sharp said this was the most significant jump towards personal responsibility for management of the virus and was part of Victoria learning to live with it.

He said booster shots — which are encouraged for people who have had their second dose more than six months ago — did not require a booking at Shepparton Showgrounds’ McIntosh Centre or other vaccination hubs around the region.

Mr Sharp said GV Health was responding to a COVID-19 outbreak in Yarrawonga and Cobram, with 89 active cases in Moira Shire as of Thursday.

“That's the largest number of active cases they've had for a long time, if not the entire pandemic. It's really related to one primary school, being Yarrawonga,” Mr Sharp said.

“We're providing support as best as we can to Yarrawonga Health and other services around there, from the testing and contact tracing point of view and other support.”

He said the outbreak looked like it was stabilising after a jump in cases across the weekend.

“It should stabilise and settle in the next couple of days and hopefully things don't become any worse in that community,” Mr Sharp said.