The Ballarat Base Hospital is triggering a 'code yellow' and urging members of the community to carefully consider whether they need to go to hospital.
Grampians Health, which manages the hospital, said it was seeing an increase in the number of people seeking emergency care, as well as an increased demand to manage and isolate COVID-19 patients.
In a statement, a spokesperson said code yellow meant staff would be focused on the urgent areas of care, but stressed they would be able to maintain an appropriate level of care for those who needed it.
A code yellow allows a health service to adopt care models outside of its typical models.
Similar codes have been triggered at other regional Victorian hospitals in the past month, including in Albury Wodonga, Wangaratta, and Shepparton.
Highest case numbers since January
Ballarat's code yellow comes into effect as the number of daily COVID cases in Ballarat continues to remain at its highest level in months.
The latest state health data shows Ballarat has been averaging 200 cases of COVID-19 a day for the past two and a half weeks.
It is the highest daily average in Ballarat since the end of January.
A Grampians Health spokesperson said the number of patients in its COVID ward had gone from six to 11 over the past week, and the number of staff forced to isolate had risen due to the prevalence of the virus in the community.
"Over the past few weeks, we have seen slight fluctuations in the number of staff unable to work due to being COVID-positive or close contacts," the spokesperson said.
"As part of our COVID-19 response planning, we have put in place systems to manage this on a day-to-day basis."
The high number of COVID cases comes ahead of the easing of pandemic restrictions from midnight tonight, which some health organisations and experts say will put more strain on a health system that is already under extreme pressure.
From midnight tonight rules around masks, vaccinations statuses, and close contact isolation will change.
