Covid sparks call for masks

NSW health authorities are urging people to wear a mask if they show Covid symptoms as a new wave of infection sweeps parts of the country.

The state has recorded its highest level of the virus in a year, with more than 17 per cent of PCR tests returning positive results.

Descendants of subvariant Omicron, EG.5 and JN. 1 are quickly becoming the most dominant strains of Covid across the state, increasing case numbers.

While NSW Health is yet to release their fortnightly Covid report for the New Year, Covid activity has been on the rise since late December.

Executive Director of Health Protection Dr Jeremy McNaulty fronted the media on Tuesday to urge those who are presenting with symptoms to wear masks if they need to leave isolation.

“If you need to go out for essential reasons then wear a mask, don’t go visiting other people particularly people at high risk,” Dr McNaulty said.

He added people should avoid visiting aged and disability care centres or interacting with anyone at high risk.

The warning comes as case numbers and hospitalisations rapidly climb in Victoria too.

A new subvariant of the virus, JN. 1, has taken over as the most prevalent strain of Covid around the world and is now dominant in Victoria.

JN. 1 has been classified a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organisation because of its “rapidly increasing spread” globally.

The rapid increase comes as the states emerge from another Covid wave linked to another variant, creating what experts are calling a “wave-on-wave”.

In Victoria alone, the sevenday average for hospitalisations as a result of the virus has climbed to 377 over the past couple of weeks, up from an average of 326 in early December.

This follows a high number of cases detected in November, though the figures are not quite as high as the peak levels seenduring the wave in May and June of last year, which brought a seven-day average of 488 hospitalisations.