In the past two days there have been exposure sites confirmed in Ararat and Stawell, leading to the Grampians Public Health Unit to put into action some of their COVID plans.

Ballarat Health Services clinical director of the Grampians Public Health Unit, Associate Professor Rosemary Aldrich said the community should be confident in the care the health service can provide in the coming months.

"I think the people of the Grampians can be very confident about the planning and structures that are in place for that," she said.

"We need to recognise the strength of the entire health infrastructure network, which includes hospitals, community health private care teams, pharmacies, ambulance services.

"A lot of people are working together for the safety of the people of the Grampians."

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Ballarat Health Services executive director of Acute Operations Ben Kelly said vaccination are the key to managing the load of COVID positive patients hospitals may see in coming months.

"We are one large regional hospital and we will do our share to carry what load that we have to," he said.

"The more people that are vaccinated, the less hospitalisations we will see and the more likely it is we will be able to treat people in their homes.

"We will take whatever we can, broadly take in the context of the broader system, and if we get beyond that demand we will work with our partners."

He said BHS have seven ICU equivalent beds at their services, but have the capacity to be flexible to care for more people if required.

However, with high vaccination rates, BHS are hoping a vast number of COVID patients can be treated from home.

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"You could potentially not require any hospital care if you have been vaccinated, that's how important the vaccine is," he said.

He also said BHS has been working with Ambulance Victoria to create plans for transferring patients throughout the Grampians Public Health Unit's region.

"The ability for those smaller hospitals to look after COVID positive patients is less than BHS, and so as the larger regional health care provider we do our bit and carry out our role in caring out care," he said.

"If patients require the level of care we can provide, they can be transferred to us.

"We do have those plans and they are plans with Ambulance Victoria. They are a critical partner in that regard and it will come back to a case by case basis.

"If someone can be transferred and it is the right thing to do and is the best course of action then that is what we will do.

"There is no one-size-fits-all when you're talking about health care, you are talking about the individual needs of the person in that circumstances.

"The Grampians Public Health Unit is relatively young, but the partnership that occurs between these different services is something all of our community should be proud of."

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