By Marcus Uhe
Ambulance Victoria is reminding people to save 000 calls for emergencies after issuing a ‘code red’ on Wednesday as demand for services reached extreme levels in metropolitan Melbourne.
The code red was declared around midnight on Tuesday 4 January and eased just after 3am on Wednesday 5 January.
“Ambulance Victoria is experiencing an extremely high demand for ambulances in the metropolitan region,” Ambulance Victoria posted to social media. “It is likely there will be a delay in an ambulance reaching you.
“If it’s not an emergency, please call nurse-on-call (1300 60 60 24).”
“Our priority is to provide care to Victorians who need life-saving assistance.”
Ambulance Victoria did not detail the reason for the spike in demand.
It comes as Victoria recorded another day of record case numbers on Wednesday with 17,636 new positive cases from just under 60,000 tests.
There are more than 51,000 active cases across the state with 591 patients in hospital.
As of Tuesday 4 January Victorians can now receive their third vaccine dose or ‘booster’ shot just four months after their second dose, down from the previous mark of five months, based on advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).
