Variant concerns but drop in cases

THERE are concerns the new subvariant of Omicron is spreading fast in Australia, despite three states experiencing a drop in cases on Saturday.

The BA.2 subvariant is known to spread faster than the original version, but authorities are still not 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 daily case numbers.

But the recent trend of daily Covid cases has shown a gradual decrease in Queensland, NSW and Victoria.

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.

There are now 966 positive patients in hospital, with 40 in intensive care.

Victoria

A total of 6075 new cases were reported over the 24 hours to Saturday.

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.

Queensland

There were 4029 new Covid cases and six deaths recorded on Saturday, down from the 4327 infections the day before.

There are 247 people in hospital, with 15 in intensive care.