COVID wave nears pre-Christmas peak
Farid Farid and Sam McKeith |
The latest COVID-19 wave is likely to peak across Australia before Christmas, but experts warn the nation faces further outbreaks.
Health Minister Mark Butler says cases have started to plateau and other data backs up a likely peak in the virus wave.
“We’re hopeful that we’re starting to see the flattening, or the peaking, of this fourth Omicron wave for 2022, but there’s still a way to go,” he told reporters on Friday.
Mr Butler pointed to a drop in the rate of antiviral prescriptions and falling COVID-19 cases at aged care facilities, where testing for the virus remains mandatory.
States and territories reported 112,219 new weekly cases on Friday, up slightly on the previous week’s total.
There were 232 COVID-19 deaths recorded across the country, also an increase on the past week.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said the state had already reached its virus peak based on signals such as hospital admissions and PCR test positivity rates.
“While this is good news, we’re still seeing a high number of cases across the state,” she said.
Weekly case numbers ticked up in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT.
However, numbers fell significantly in both Victoria and WA.
University of South Australia epidemiologist Adrian Esterman said a nationwide peak was approaching but warned the data was based only on reported numbers.
“One of the problems is we don’t have a good handle on how many cases there are,” Professor Esterman told AAP.
“All we have is the reported cases and they’re the tip of the iceberg because most people these days aren’t reporting it.”
Access to free PCR tests will be limited under changes to the national COVID-19 plan announced on Monday.
From next year, a referral from a medical or nurse practitioner will be needed for patients to receive a free PCR test at locations not run by a state or territory government.
Once the COVID-19 wave peaked, Prof Esterman said cases would likely decline slowly before another wave started, a process that would continue for the foreseeable future.
Authorities had “decided the Australian population has to live with COVID-19″ despite about 12 per cent of those infected ending up with long-term health problems,” he said.
WEEKLY VIRUS DATA BY JURISDICTION:
* NSW: 40,695 cases, 74 deaths
* Victoria: 24,652 cases, 84 deaths
* ACT: 3018 cases, one death
* Queensland: 16,600 cases, 33 deaths
* Tasmania: 4045 cases, seven deaths
* SA: 10,754 cases, 21 deaths
* WA: 11,624 cases, 12 deaths
* NT: 831 cases, zero deaths
AAP
