'Worse is still to come,' emergency doctor in Victoria fears

A frontline emergency department doctor has expressed caution about reports Victoria is nearing the peak of its Omicron wave, warning the health system is yet to feel the full impact.

The state today recorded 22,180 new COVID-19 cases and 22 deaths.

There are now 1152 people hospitalised across the state and 43 people on ventilators.

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Stephen Parris, an intensive care doctor in Melbourne, told Today a fall in reported COVID-19 case numbers over the previous days did not tell the full story.

"It's nice to hear some good news but the data that we've got at the moment is the least reliable we've had over the last two years," Dr Parris said.

"I mean, the shortages of tests means that we've only got a fraction of people who actually have the disease."

Dr Parris' comments came after Victorian Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said COVID-19 hospitalisations were expected to peak sometime in mid-February, but ultimately it depended on case numbers.

But Dr Parris warned that the expected peak will put a huge strain on health services, requiring hospitals to open a COVID-19 ward every week.

He also said larger numbers of frontline medical workers were being exposed to the coronavirus.

"The gaps in the rosters are bigger than I've seen them at any stage and that's clearly because there's so much COVID-19 in the community.

"So many of my colleagues who have a better chance of getting COVID-19 out in the community than they do at work are either getting COVID themselves or are household contacts of them."