The record case load comes after the state government implemented its new online portal, which requires people to upload their positive rapid antigen tests. Of the 51,356 new cases, 26,428 are from rapid tests, while 24,928 were detected from standard PCRs. The majority of the rapid tests were recorded throughout this week, but were only made known to the Department through the online system which opened on Friday. The number of people who actually received their positive rapid antigen test result on Friday was 5923. There is currently 644 people in hospital, including 106 in ICU. Speaking Saturday morning, Health Minister Martin Foley said more than 15 per cent – or more than 800,000 – of Victorians aged over 18 had received their third booster shot.Mr Foley said the new reporting style – which incorporates probable cases detected through rapid antigen testing – provided authorities with a “realistic picture of transmission in the community”.“We knew there were undiagnosed cases out there,” he said.“What we now know is that the figure for cases in the wider community is more accurate than we had previous to just taking the PCR test. Having this realistic figure allows us to put more people in contact with the support they need and get them through this challenging time.“This is, in many respects, exactly what we wanted to happen … Nobody wants Covid, nobody wants the Omicron variant, but it is so important for responding and keeping people in touch with services and support that we know who has turned positive.”Mr Foley said it would take a few days to “bed down” the system, and he anticipated that Victoria should expect to see higher case numbers – than what was actually reported in the previous 24 hours – as people continued to upload their results.Despite the high caseloads, Mr Foley said it was important to not rule out even more cases moving around the community undetected.He said that in some cases, people who return a positive rapid test will also receive a PCR test, indicating that reported case numbers are higher than they truly are.“There’s going to be a degree of doubling,” he said.Mr Foley said the system will be fine-tuned over the coming days to recognise this in a bid to provide a more accurate representation of daily figures. How many Victorians have caught Covid twiceMore than 400 Victorians have been hit with Covid-19 twice in the last two years, new figures have revealed.Since the pandemic began in early 2020, the Department of Health has recorded 439 reinfections, which is counted if a person becomes reinfected with the virus 60 days after first infection.The figures come as a Melbourne woman this week revealed she had contracted Covid for the second time in less than four months.Alexandra Duffin, 28, was hospitalised twice after she contracted the more virulent Delta strain in October last year.Ms Duffin, who was unvaccinated at the time, experienced severe symptoms and struggled to keep any food down.Her taste had only just started to return days before she tested positive for the highly transmissible Omicron variant on a PCR test this week.“I feel a lot more congested this time round, but I am trying to be positive. I managed to get through it the first time, and even though I was so sick, if I can do that, I can do it again,” Ms Duffin told the Herald Sun.“I really want more people to know about this.”Ms Duffin, who said she “felt like Superman” in the months after her first diagnosis, has since amassed more than two million likes and 70,000 followers on video sharing app TikTok by telling her rare story.Advice issued by the federal Department of Health states people previously infected with Covid are far less likely to contract the virus for up to six months, however a person is not considered immune or double vaccinated after previously contracting the it.Deakin University epidemiology chair Catherine Bennett said there was nothing to stop Victorians becoming infected with Covid multiple times, especially if they previously caught the Delta variant.“We’ve got both variants circulating at the moment in Victoria, so someone could literally get a Delta infection this week and still be susceptible to Omicron in two weeks’ time,” Professor Bennett said.“Immune response to Delta doesn’t protect you from Omicron. Neither prior infection or vaccination, is protecting people from infection at the moment.”Former World Health Organisation epidemiologist Adrian Esterman said the true number of people becoming reinfected in Victoria may never be known.“We have this vast pool of infected people in Australia at the moment we know nothing about, so it’s very, very difficult to say who will get reinfected,” he said.Prof Esterman said both state and federal authorities should be looking at other countries such as the UK – where about 15 per cent of recorded daily cases are repeat infections – as an example of reinfection rates to expect in Victoria in the coming months.“Data in the UK shows us you get 20 per cent protection from Omicron (after contracting another strain), so of 109 people who’ve recovered from Delta, 80 of them will come down with Omicron,” he said.“People think: ‘Oh, look, I’ve had it. You know, I’m protected. Therefore, I’m not bothering.’ And this is exactly what happens when people start thinking they can’t get reinfected.”The Victorian Department of Health said that a recently recovered Covid-19 case does not need to quarantine again if they contract the virus or become a close contact, provided that the new exposure was less than 30 days since the case’s first symptom – or positive test if asymptomatic.Within this 30-day period, recovered cases can continue to attend high-risk settings, do not need to be furloughed from work if re-exposed and won’t be required to participate in surveillance testing as part of their employment or education if they are re-exposed.
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