Warning sounded on Omicron assumptions

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Australia has been warned against gambling on Omicron-induced illness proving milder than previous COVID-19 variants amid rising infection tallies.

NSW and Victoria recorded 3803 new infections between the country’s two most populous states on Monday.

Cases are expected to rise further as people take advantage of open borders across much of the nation over Christmas.

University of New South Wales professor of epidemiology John Kaldor cautions a lot remains unknown about the Omicron strain.

“The first thing to figure out, as with any new variant, is first of all how infectious (is it)? Then, secondly, how much disease is it causing and, particularly, how well are the vaccines working?” he told ABC radio.

“We’ve got the answer to the first one of those three, but we haven’t got the answer to the second and the third as yet.”

Professor Kaldor warned waiting to see whether hospitalisation rates worsened before beefing up public health measures was risky.

“We can’t be waiting to watch that number (and) react in some way to make our decisions at this stage,” he said. 

He expected new infections to climb into the tens of thousands in the absence of additional infection controls, particularly in NSW.

“If the severity is of a scale that’s even half that of Delta, then there’ll be a really strong impact on the hospitals and their ability just to provide care to people who need it,” Prof Kaldor said.

NSW recorded 2501 new cases on Monday, with 261 people in hospital. Of those, 33 are in intensive care.

Victoria reported 1302 additional infections. The state has 406 people in hospital including 81 in intensive care.

But Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged calm, touting Australia’s high 16-plus full vaccination rate which surpasses 90 per cent.

“As more and more people go and get their boosters we can face Omicron and we can stare it down with sensible, common sense measures that enable Australia to keep forging ahead,” he told an event in NSW.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, who contracted the virus during an overseas trip, stressed people need to be allowed get on with their lives as the pandemic continues.

“It was really mild, a couple of days and the rest of the time you had the virus, you didn’t feel sick. And that is one of the frustrations,” he told the Seven Network of his infection.

Mr Joyce, who is double vaccinated, has been cleared to leave hotel quarantine in the United States and return to Australia.

Epidemiologist Adrian Esterman wants the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation to recommend boosters three months after a second dose.

He fears leaving the gap at five months will result in “thousands of people infected for no reason”.

South Australia on Sunday reported 80 new infections, Queensland 42 and the ACT 18.

There were nine new cases in the Northern Territory as authorities there anticipate extending a lockdown in the town of Tennant Creek.

Tasmania reported three new cases as it prepares to mandate masks indoors.