Victoria has reached a new high in the Delta coronavirus outbreak with 208 new cases and a further death recorded.
The spike is the first time in this year's outbreak the daily case numbers have surpassed 200 and come after 48,572 tests.
CSIRO director Dr Rob Grenfell today said he fears the hospital system could "collapse" if lockdowns were not suppressing the spread of the Delta variant.
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https://twitter.com/VicGovDH/status/1433557562624864258?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwHe said lockdowns are working to contain rising cases, but the stay-at-home orders must remain in place until more people are vaccinated.
"Our hospitals only have a finite capacity and we already have over a 1000 people in our hospitals in NSW and Victoria, and we have nearly 200 in intensive care," Dr Grenfell told Today.
"That's a major problem."
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He said methods to suppress the virus needed to continue "until we immunise as many people as possible".
Dr Grenfell said cases would otherwise be in their "hundreds of thousands" in New South Wales if the lockdowns there hadn't been put in place.
He believes in the effectiveness of lockdowns, even with the toll they are taking on jobs and mental health.
"Our lockdowns are actually very, very effective. We would have hundreds of thousands and of cases in NSW if we hadn't locked down to this degree, certainly the Victorian outbreak is really being suppressed.
"When the virus establishes itself, you have to look at suppression as the next way. Suppression is important, because if we don't do it too many people will get sick all at once and our hospitals will collapse."
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Dr Grenfell said it was the Delta strain that was posing the most risk and Victoria was readying itself for higher numbers.
Yesterday the state recorded a spike in numbers with 176 new infections and Premier Daniel Andrews said the lockdown would be extended until 70 per cent of residents have their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Mr Andrews has allowed playgrounds to re-open from 11.59pm but said the risk was too high to reduce other restrictions until the vaccination milestone had been reached, which is expected to be on September 23.
Once the vaccination target has been hit, the five-kilometre travel radius will be expanded to 10-kilometres, more exercise will be allowed and construction sites can also go to 50 per cent capacity.
Dr Grenfell warned of the serious toll that would be put on the hospital system if coronavirus was able to run rampant.
"We only have a finite number of intensive care beds and they are being stretched considerably in NSW now, also Victoria is gearing itself up for the next onslaught and they have been through this before," Dr Grenfell said.
"The Delta strain infects a lot more people."
Dr Grenfell is encouraging people to get vaccinated immediately and to take up AstraZeneca as Pfizer stocks remain low across the country.
He pointed to new data from the UK showing the effectiveness of AstraZeneca.
"It actually performed better in reducing hospitalisations and deaths and more importantly the immunity developed from the AstraZeneca appears to be longer than the Pfizer," Dr Grenfell said.
"For any 50-year-olds and above out there saying, 'I'm going to wait for the Pfizer' you are waiting for a vaccine that's not as good for you in your age group than AstraZeneca.
"I would be urging, you are dicing with your own life, get a vaccine as soon as possible."
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