The latest COVID-19 wave has peaked in NSW but experts warn health measures will be needed as the nation faces future outbreaks.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said the state had reached its COVID peak this week based on a number of indicators.
“While this is good news, we’re still seeing a high number of cases across the state,” she said in a video update on Thursday.
There were 39,761 people diagnosed with the virus across the state in the week ending December 10, a 3.6 per cent increase on the previous week.
But key indicators such as hospital admissions and the share of PCR tests that were positive were declining, indicating the peak in infections had been reached.
The weekly average of daily hospital admissions was 113, down from 117 the previous week.
National figures released last week showed the rise in COVID cases was slowing after steep increases in November.
University of South Australia epidemiologist Adrian Esterman said a nationwide peak was approaching but he 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,” he said.
“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.
Professor Esterman said he expected the COVID wave to reach its peak this week or the next, then cases would slowly decline before another wave started – a process that would continue for the foreseeable future.
He chided state and federal authorities for loosening measures designed to slow the spread of the virus.
“They have decided the Australian population has to live with COVID-19 and they keep talking about normalising things,” he said, noting about 12 per cent of people infected with the virus ended up with long-term health problems.
-AAP
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