Australia's current COVID-19 wave is nearing its peak, but deaths are on the rise.
Victoria reported 8,937 new cases on Saturday, representing a steady decline since a monthly peak of 14,274 cases on 20 July.
"These range from 10 June - 23 July 2022. Without the backlog, today's PCR and RAT total is 4713," the Queensland Government said. "It looks like we are seeing a consistent story, so that's encouraging. It tells us that we might not see the case numbers come down for a little while, but at least we've come off that steep growth," she said.
"We've seen about a two-week lag between hospitalisations and deaths. So, hopefully, we're not far off the peak in terms of those deaths being reported as well." The effective reproduction number measures the transmission potential of a virus, at a specific time, after taking into account immunity levels in the population and policy measures like physical distancing.
However, she warned vulnerable groups still remain at greater risk - and the situation could change or cycle again throughout August.Australians are missing out on life-saving COVID-19 treatments. Why are people not taking them?