Schematic diagram of weekly growth of confirmed cases of new crown . (Picture: "Australian Financial Review")
[Australian Network Compilation Report] Australia's chief health officer, Professor Paul Kelly, said that Australia's fourth Omicron (Omicron) outbreak infection number is close to its peak. Despite an almost 50% increase in infections over the past week, numbers should drop sharply soon.
The fourth wave of the epidemic is "not too aggressive"
The Australian Financial Review reported on the 16th that Federal Health Minister Butler (Mark Butler) said that the number of new confirmed cases has been on the rise for two consecutive weeks, and the hospitalization rate has also increased 11%. The strains of this outbreak include new Amicron sub-variant strains including XBB, BQ.1 and BA.4 and BA.5. Last week, there were more than 60,000 new cases of new coronavirus infection in Australia, which was a 47% increase from the previous week.
Kelly said that according to multiple indicators such as employee leave, ambulance dispatch rate, wastewater testing and elderly care staff's new crown diagnosis rate, Australia is close to the middle stage of the epidemic. Kelly said the outbreak was expected to be similar to the recent outbreak in Singapore, meaning numbers "should peak soon and show signs of coming back down quickly". He said: "I think this wave of epidemics is short and sharp. We will continue to monitor these situations closely in the next few weeks." Dr Catherine Bennett said the outbreak in Singapore was driven by the XBB variant, while there were some other variants in Australia. Bennett said: "So our situation may be a little bit different. If you start to see some reinfection in this wave of epidemics, then it may mean that the call takes longer. For example, in the UK, there are many mixed variants. strains, but their situation has improved very quickly. So I think we can indeed see a similar curve in Australia to other countries." Butler said that the Ministry of Health was monitoring the spread of the virus and found that the fourth The wave of outbreaks has not had the widespread impact of previous episodes, and the current number of cases is about 85% lower than at the peak of the winter epidemic in July. Butler opposed the implementation of stricter epidemic restrictions, such as the reintroduction of mask orders, the restoration of mandatory isolation periods and home office measures. He doesn't think there's any evidence yet that those restrictions are necessary.
The number of booster vaccinations will increase by 50% within two weeks
It is reported that 4.7 million doses of bivalent vaccine produced by Pfizer (Pfizer) will arrive in Australia in the next two weeks, in addition, there are 320,000 doses of Omicron The Moderna bivalent vaccine will soon be distributed nationwide. Mr Butler also revealed the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation had advised against offering a fifth dose of the new coronavirus vaccine, citing international evidence that it had little impact on improving the spread of the virus.
The number of people receiving booster shots has increased by 50% in the past two weeks, but 75,000 people a week is still too low. Asked what else could be done to increase booster rates, Butler said getting a third dose of vaccine or a fourth dose is ultimately a matter of personal choice, so the government's role is mainly to work with health experts and chief executives. Together, health officials provide people with as much information as possible, allowing them to make their own choices based on the information. (Compiled by Wang Yuqing)
Editor: Yin Sha
