ANALYSIS: As predicted a new variant of the omicron sub-variant is fuelling a winter wave, raising pressure for a return of some controls to limit community spread over the next six weeks
in June and July, with various experts predicting a horror winter combination of omicron and influenza.nearly double normal
But scarred by the delta lockdowns of 2022, state governments have gone from being COVID-zealots to COVID-who-cares. Both the biggest states, NSW and Victoria, face elections in the next nine months and neither Premier wants to return to the micromanagement that would see controls such as mandatory masking, work from home orders and capacity and density limits brought back.
Treble that for Australia and that is 3000 additional beds tied up with COVID-19 patents at a time when all the states are already teetering on code red protocols. The sharp leap in admissions is consistent with the UK, where there has been a 30 per cent increase over the past two weeks.Under pressure to be seen to respond, the tyro Health Minister Mark Butler broadened the availability of the fourth vaccine dose Thursday.
It is the existence of eight additional mutations, two of which are already known to be highly dangerous, that has prompted leading virology labs to warn about BA.2.75.
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