CANBERRA, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Pual Kelly has said the country is in the midst of another wave of coronavirus infections.
Paul Kelly on Tuesday urged Australians to take additional precautions against COVID-19 infection, including wearing masks, staying at home if experiencing symptoms and staying up to date on vaccinations.
In a statement, the CMO said the government was closely monitoring the spread of omicron variants XBB and BQ.1 in Australia.
In the week to Nov. 4 Australia recorded an average of 5,300 new COVID-19 cases every day, representing an average increase from 4,891 cases per day in the previous week ending on Oct. 28.
"All indications are that this is the start of a new COVID-19 wave in Australia. This was to be expected and will be part of living with COVID-19 into the future," Kelly said in a media release.
"The overseas experience is that these new variants have driven increases in case numbers, and hospitalization at a rate proportionate to these increases, because of their ability to evade the immunity provided by prior infection and vaccination," he added.
Some vaccination experts believed that the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) should recommend a fifth vaccine dose.
Currently all Australians aged 30 and above are eligible for four doses. ■
