There are concerns the new subvariant of Omicron is fast spreading in Australia, despite Victoria and NSW experiencing a drop in cases on Saturday.
The BA. 2 subvariant is known to spread faster than the original version, but authorities are yet to be certain if it is more severe.
Authorities in NSW predict it could become the dominant strain in the state in a month’s time.
Australian Medical Association NSW president Danielle McMullen said Omicron was a milder version of the virus than previous strains, so authorities hoped that continued.
“It’s just that we are expecting to see these higher case numbers again, which of course causes disruption to the community and even a milder variant doesn’t leave you feeling very well,” she told The Today Show on Friday.
“Because it’s more infectious, it’s advantageous to the virus to spread this variant around, so we expect to see that across the country.”
Earlier this week, the NSW government confirmed the BA. 2 subvariant was detected in the community and contributed to an increase in the number of daily case numbers.
New South Wales
On Saturday, 12,850 new infections were recorded in the state as well as four deaths. This is down on 14,034 cases reported in NSW on Friday.
Of those new cases, 7624 came from rapid antigen tests while 5226 were reported through a PCR.
There are now 966 positive patients in hospital with 40 in intensive care.
Hospitalisations decreased from the previous day where 998 pxjmtzyweople were admitted, but there was one less person in intensive care on Friday.
Victoria
A total of 6075 new cases were reported over the past 24 hours, with 4031 from rapid antigen kits and 2044 through PCR testing.
There were also 11 infected people that died with the virus.
Hospitalisations are now at 175 with 22 in intensive care and four on ventilators.
The new figure is down on 6811 new cases reported on Friday.
The number of people in hospital dropped from 185 on Friday but the number of people in intensive care and on ventilators increased, with 27 and three respectively.
