Don thy masks ‘cos new data indicates another wave of COVID-19 could be splashing the state in all its sneezy, achey glory before you can say “achoo!”
My nose already feels tender at the prospect of a giant Q-tip making contact with my nasal cavity and I don’t even live in NSW. Je suis hate this.
Per the latest NSW Health surveillance report, 6,941 folks were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the week ending March 4 — an 8.6 per cent increase from the previous week.
As well as an uptick in cases, the number of people with COVID-19 who rocked up to hospital and had to be admitted rose to 128, up from 107 admissions in the previous week.
“These increases are likely to mark the beginning of [a] new wave in transmission,” the report suggested.
Ruh roh, Raggy.
University of Sydney public health expert Alexandra Martiniuk told the ABC the increase in folks heading to the emergency department was nothing to be sneezed at (pardon the pun).
“What you can see is an aberration where maybe more people got tested,” she said.
“But that is probably reflecting a true increase when you see also an increased bump up in emergency department presentations.”
She also said, however, that the rate of emergency department admissions was a fickle number which could easily fluctuate, so it could be too early to tell whether a new COVID-19 wave is indeed underway. If the figure jumps again next week, it’ll be confirmation that COVID Round 5: Electric Boogajive (is that anything? No?) has started.
I say “Round 5” ‘cos poor ol’ NSW has experienced four waves of COVID-19 since Omicron dug its boots in at the start of 2022. Credit where credit’s due, that bastard knows how to stick around.
The good news is that the waves have progressively gotten smaller ‘cos loads of folks are vaccinated. Similarly groovy is the fact Professor Martiniuk said the sub-variants people are contracting are within the Omicron family, and if we can keep this going then “the thought is that these waves may stay smaller.”
Experts are still keeping their finger on the variant pulse, however, to make sure no sneaky suckers come in and cause abject chaos.
Mask up, wash your hands and make sure you have some RATs at the ready if Miss Rona does decide to pay you a visit ‘cos God knows where TF you can cop a PCR these days.
