A woman walks past the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, on July 6, 2022. (Photo by Hu Jingchen/Xinhua)
Australia's health department on Friday recorded 41,870 new COVID-19 cases, with the number of hospital admissions hitting a record high in about five months.
SYDNEY, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Australia is facing a looming new wave of COVID-19 as Omicron sub-variants are driving a surge in the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths in some populous states.
Australia's health department on Friday recorded 41,870 cases, with 3,977 hospitalizations including 141 in the intensive unit. This number of hospital admissions has hit a record high in about five months since early February, according to the COVID-19 data tracker by national broadcaster ABC.
The state of Queensland recorded 714 hospitalizations on Friday, which is more than double the case recorded in earlier June. State health authorities warned the worst may yet to come.
According to Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath, there have been over 2,000 health care workers absent because of COVID-19, and the scale of the new wave "could even be higher than (the first wave)" in the state.
A COVID-19 testing clinic sign is seen at a hospital in Sydney, Australia, on July 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
Health authorities of the most populous state of New South Wales (NSW) warned on Tuesday that the third wave of Omicron infections in the state is likely to peak in late July or early August, urging the public to practice precaution measures.
At present, NSW leads the highest daily infections in the country, with 12,768 new cases reported on Friday. The state also reported 1,901 hospitalizations including 60 in the intensive care unit during the same period.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr. Kerry Chant said this new wave will hit schools and businesses hard. People should exercise common sense and wear a face mask in public indoor spaces, where physical distancing cannot be maintained.
The state of Victoria, with 9,676 new cases and nine deaths reported on Friday, has reached a grim milestone of over 4,000 COVID-related deaths recorded since the pandemic began, with more than half of which occurred in this year, reported ABC on Tuesday.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews who described COVID-19 as still a "serious threat" to Victorians over the winter period, extended the pandemic declaration for three months.
This move will allow the government to implement COVID-19-related measures deemed necessary to public health, such as mask and vaccine mandates.
A hospital vehicle is seen in Sydney, Australia, on July 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)
Chair of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of South Australia, Professor Adrian Esterman, warned against the new wave of pandemic as two more infectious sub-variants become the dominant COVID strains in Australia.
He described the sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 as "masters at evading immunity," adding two doses of vaccine are not sufficient against them.
"What I can say with some certainty is that the BA.4/5 is now as transmissible as measles, which until now was our most infectious disease," he told Xinhua on Friday.
"One of the first things that the government has to do is to try and increase that uptake of the third and fourth doses."
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI), the country's peak immunization advisory body, has approved the fourth COVID-19 vaccine doses for people as young as 30 in a hope to provide extra protection ahead of a projected winter surge in the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants.
Esterman also suggested that the governments could develop more community health services to reduce pressure and free up beds for some patients with COVID-19 and acute emergency disease. ■
