Vic health system under ’considerable strain’

The state government is considering system-wide changes to the health system as Covid hospitalisations continue to increase.

James Merlino, who is acting health Minister, said on Wednesday the health system was under “considerable strain” with more than 6600 healthcare workers unavailable to work.

Mr Merlino said the recruitment of an extra 1000 vaccinators to assist the state’s vaccine rollout could help ease pressure on the health workforce.

Mr Merlino said hospitals could call a “code brown” that would see leave cancelled for workers.

But he said further might need to be done, with considerations about system-wide changes to boost staffing levels.

“It’s a race for people to get vaccinated while we try and support the health system during a period while it’s under extreme strain,” Mr Merlino said.

Meanwhile, Mr Merlino has vowed to turn truck driver to help deliver almost 30,000 air purifiers to Victorian schools over the next 18 days.

Under a $190m package announced in September the state government committed to installing 51,000 of the devices in government and low-fee non-government schools.

Mr Merlino said on Wednesday fewer than half of the devices had been delivered, citing transport and supply difficulties.

But he said every single device would be delivered by the start of term 1 on January 31.

“Even if I need to get in a truck and deliver them myself, we’ll get those air purifiers delivered,” he said.

“More than 20,000 have been delivered. We’ve got the next three weeks where we will deliver the remaining component of that 51,000.

“That’s the commitment we made.”

Mr Merlino said the devices were a vital part of the state’s “mitigation strategy to make sure schools are as safe as they possibly can be”.

It is believed authorities hope 30,000 of the devices will be delivered by the end of the week, with about 2000 new machines reaching schools every day.

The devices are to be installed in higher-risk areas including staff rooms, sick bays and music rooms to remove potentially infectious particles.

As part of the ventilation program, infrastructure audits, ventilation assessments, and CO2 monitoring have been conducted across Victorian schools.

A Ventilation Technical Advisory Panel was also established to undertake further risk assessments in other areas.

Mr Merlino ruled out the possibility of a return to remote learning or a delay to the start of the school year.

“No one is talking about remote learning,” he said.

“We made a commitment to the people of Victoria: get vaccinated, and then we can move beyond remote learning.

“There’s no guarantees, we don’t know what’s around the corner, but we support the national framework for getting students back to school for the start of school — day one, term one.”

Opposition Education spokesman David Hodgett questioned the rollout.

“Yet again the Andrews government has been caught out with grand announcements and a failure to deliver,” he said.

“And yet again they blame everyone else instead of taking responsibility.”