Australia is experiencing a “big wave” of Covid-19 infections that is coinciding with a rise in influenza and other winter illnesses, health authorities and experts are warning.
Deakin University’s epidemiology chair, Prof Catherine Bennett, said there was a direct alignment in the rise of Covid-19 and flu across the nation, which were “both at that critical point of takeoff where you see a rapid escalation”.
The latest figures released on Thursday by NSW Health warned Covid-19 activity had “rapidly increased over the last week” and influenza activity was also on the rise, with the admissions to emergency departments increasing.
The case numbers of Covid and influenza recorded by the state had increased by a quarter, rising from just over 4,000 reported in the previous week to well over 5,000 in the most recent report.
The report also said younger age groups in the state were experiencing high rates of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza, while pertussis and pneumonia were also “unseasonably high” in school-aged children.
The ACT government announced on Tuesday that due to steady increase in Covid-19, influenza and RSV case notifications, Canberra Health Services would put in place additional safety measures, including a mask mandate and increasing Covid-19 testing for hospital patients.
According to the latest ACT Health reporting, Covid-19 case notification numbers increased to 242 from 159 in the previous week and 146 in the week before. Hospital numbers also rose from 28 to 67, but there were no people in the intensive care unit or ventilated.
The ACT government spokesperson said “there is currently no indication of more severe disease related to the increasing Covid-19, influenza and RSV cases.”
The latest national data on Covid-19 in residential aged care homes shows there are 469 active outbreaks, an increase of 76 outbreaks since 23 May. There are 3,788 cases among residents and staff.
The Victorian Department of Health’s most recent report said wastewater surveillance suggested increasing prevalence of Covid-19 infections in the community.
Prof Adrian Esterman, the chair of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of South Australia, said Australia was “right in the middle of another big wave” of Covid-19.
Esterman said the current wave was “as bad as it was at the end of last year”. “And it’s still going up, so that’s a major concern especially since many hospitals have stopped mandatory face masks for their staff.”
In South Australian hospitals there have 237 staff off with Covid and 193 patients with flu or Covid, SA Health said.
Esterman called on governments to increase messaging to their most vulnerable populations about face masks and vaccinations, noting only 40% of those over 75 were up to date with their booster shots.
Esterman said influenza and RSV rates were also double what they were last year. He believed the increase in illness was due to the “double whammy effect” of waning vaccine uptake combined with people not having been exposed to these viruses because of all the protections they were undertaking between 2020 and 2022.
Esterman and Bennett said authorities could no longer rely on reported Covid-19 case numbers, as was the case when widespread testing was occurring in previous years.
“We’re looking at six to 10 times as many people actually infected as the case numbers are showing,” Esterman said.
The Covid cases in Australia are still Omicron subvariants, the most recent known as FLiRT, which has caused less severe disease and fewer people ending up in hospital, Bennett said. However, she cautioned that hospitalisations and deaths could rise again if people were too complacent, vaccination rates lagged and infection risks aren’t managed.
Bennett said she believed Australia was in an acute phase, still “a few weeks off peak” with the next six weeks critical. She encouraged people in this period to ensure they were up to date on their vaccinations, be aware of their own symptoms, dust off their masks and think about ventilation and good hygiene.
