Acting chief health officer Ben Cowie warns pressure on the health system will continue to rise as state records 1,638 new cases

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The number of critically ill Covid-19 patients in Victoria requiring hospital treatment has soared, a week after the state recorded a surge in cases.

In the past day, an extra 39 people were admitted to hospital, and the number of people in intensive care and on ventilators both increased by 21. That increase represented a daily jump of almost 40% in patients requiring a ventilator (74 patients) and more than 20% in intensive care patients (115).