It appears the peak of the Omicron COVID-19 wave in New South Wales has passed, with Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant confirming that the spread is “slowing” in the community.
She thanked the community for continuing to come forward for testing, or uploading Rapid Antigen Test results.
“It is pleasing to see that a variety of indicators demonstrate that the spread of COVID is slowing in the community,” Dr Chant said.
“I want to thank the community and acknowledge the actions of everyone in contributing to that.”
Despite the pleasing news, Dr Chant confirmed that she expects fatality numbers to continue to be high in the coming weeks.
“There is a significant lag in cases being identified to when we see them get hospitalised and when we see a small number flow through, tragically, into deaths,” she said.
“Therefore in this outbreak… we expect to see a lag of two to three weeks. Unfortunately the death numbers will likely remain high but my message is that we can turn that around with boosters… and getting that booster with a real sense of urgency.”
A record 46 deaths were reported in today’s numbers.
There are currently 2,743 people in hospital with COVID-19, and 209 in ICU. These numbers are down from yesterday, when 2,781 were in hospital and 212 were in ICU.
Troy Dodds is the Weekender’s Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.
