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Victoria records 16 new COVID-19 deaths, hospitalisations at 543

IMAGE: Recent genomic testing showed that over 97 per cent of cases sampled in Victoria are the Omicron variant.(AAP: Con Chronis)

Source: ABCnews

Victoria has recorded another 16 COVID-19 deaths

The number of people in hospital after contracting the virus sits at 543, compared to 542 on Wednesday.

Of those patients, 75 are in intensive care units, with 23 people on ventilators.

The state reported 9,391 new infections — 3,346 from PCR results and 6,045 from rapid antigen tests. 

It takes the number of officially reported active infections to 55,946, down from 57,022 yesterday.

About 48 per cent of the state’s adult population has now had a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Victoria’s Health Department released the results of genomic testing of 500 COVID-19 samples from across the state, which showed 97.8 per cent were the Omicron variant.

“This new data highlights the almost complete strain replacement of Omicron over Delta that has taken place in Victoria over the past two months,” a statement read.

The department said the results, combined with other data, showed that over the past month the proportion of COVID-19 cases in intensive care had increased to more than 90 per cent.