Doctor's blunt response to sick Covid patients' desperate request
A frontline doctor has revealed he has been forced to deliver unwelcome news to sick Covid patients asking for the vaccine.
Victoria's healthcare resources are increasingly stretched as it faces a daunting Delta outbreak which has seen daily cases rise way above the peak of its second wave in 2020.
Daily infections hit a terrifying new high of 1,438 cases on Thursday.
Despite the state's death rate starting to increase as hospitals feel the burden of increased transmission, emergency physician Dr Stephen Parnis told Channel Nine's A Current Affair he was still witnessing Covid-19 sceptics being brought in.
"What I see often is that sense of regret for those who are seriously ill, asking if they could be vaccinated now," he said.
"I've seen that on one occasion in the last few weeks and I have to say to them in those circumstances 'vaccination is too late'."
Victoria's hospitals under pressure as cases surge
Dr Parnis said the pandemic and the latest outbreak was "without doubt" the toughest period in the careers of those in the health sector and questioned if enough was being done by the government to support his colleagues.
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"The question is after all of this fatigue can the health system survive the price of opening up with a huge surge in cases, certainly here in Victoria?" he said.
Health Minister Martin Foley said plans were in place to supplement the state's workforce, with parts of the health system being "deprioritised" and partnerships with the private sector being developed "to switch demand from the public sector to the private sector".
Hospitalisations are expected to hit as high as 2500 in the wake of Victoria's predicted peak at the end of October.
Covid contributing to ambulance delays
Further scrutiny was cast over the handling of the state's resources when a three-year-old girl died after her family waited for nearly two minutes to get through to Triple-0 after she went into cardiac arrest.
Mr Foley said Triple-0 delays were related to demand from people in Covid-19 outbreak hotspots, particularly those in Melbourne's north and west.
"As concern and anxiety around Covid-19 grows, we see that level of demand grow," he told reporters.
"On top of that we are seeing unprecedented levels of demand right across our (health) system, and we need to make sure we do everything we can to get through that."
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