As staff work to keep busy emergency departments running, the hospital is hoping to help COVID-positive patients before they need to be admitted.

Bendigo Health Public Health Unit director Bruce Bolam said he hopes people receiving test kits from the clinic will be able to make good use of them.

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"We hand out several hundred RATs a day from our McLaren Street testing clinic and it's great to have those free tests, but we need people to register their results," he said.

"By doing so, that enables for us to then assess their potential health risks and provide them the care they need for their circumstances.

"It also helps us track the disease in the community, which is very important from an outbreak control point-of-view as this condition continues to be a big part of all of our lives."

Mr Bolam said it was particularly important over the busy Easter and Anzac Day long weekends.

"It's fantastic that we're getting back to something more normal because that means more people have been coming into our region and to Bendigo than we've seen in a long time," he said.

"But it also increases the risk of transmission and when someone gets that positive RAT result, it is critical not to delay.

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"For the vast majority of people, that'll just be looking after yourself and common sense applies at home, but for a proportion of people who aren't vaccinated or may have high risk conditions, you will want to actively monitor those people and if they haven't registered, we don't know they're there and that's where the health risk can emerge."

Mr Bolam said by catching COVID-19 early and providing care, less people will need to be admitted to hospital.

"We know that the COVID-19 pathways really work in looking after people at home and escalating rapidly where necessary," he said.

"What we don't want is for anyone to have an unnecessary surprise of a hospital visit because we don't know they're there.

"The people that need it the most will get daily phone calls and contact with health professionals in order to ensure their safety and in some instances that does mean we need to escalate their care.

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"But usually that means we can get appropriate care to them in their home environment without needing them to go to hospital."

Mr Bolam said Bendigo Health was actively keeping an eye on new variants that may make it to the regions.

"The good news is Omicron, which is in our area, is significantly less severe, particularly for people who are triple vaccinated, however there are still many unknowns," he said.

"We know these new variants are much more transmissible and that's what's driving the significant increase in case numbers you see coming from January through to now.

"We're now into BA.2 and we know from wastewater testing results across the region and in Bendigo, we have got that variant highly prevalent, but we don't just have that.

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"We still have the occasional signs of Delta and BA.1, and that makes it very complex to manage and why it's particularly important that we do know when people are a case."

Mr Bolam said staff were still encouraging people to continue getting vaccinated.

"Immunity wains after three to four months, so for those people who got a COVID-19 immunisation around Christmas time or the cohort of over 50 years of age, I would be strongly recommending if you haven't had then third dose that you do so," he said.

"It will make a material difference to the severity of infection."

The Mollison Street vaccination clinic will remain open from 10am until 2pm on April 15 and 16 before closing on Easter Sunday and Monday.

The McLaren Street testing clinic will be open between 10am until 2pm for the four days over the Easter long weekend.

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