South Australia's rate of COVID-19 infections is indicative of a fifth wave, according to a local epidemiologist.
SA Health reported 3,256 new cases in the seven days to Friday, up by 785 cases on the previous Friday.
Professor Adrian Esterman, an epidemiologist at the University of South Australia, said at the current rate, infections could double in 13 days.
"It's pretty much clear now across the country we're going into a fifth Omicron wave," he said.
"And certainly that's true in South Australia.
"We've seen numbers going up now for three weeks in a row.
"Our effective reproduction number, which shows us how well or how bad things are going, is at virtually a record high, it's at 1.17.
"Which means we're likely to see many more cases coming up ... if nothing else changes and the effective reproductive number stays at this level, I'd expect case numbers to double in 13 days."
SA Health said eight COVID-19 deaths had been notified in the past week, in people aged in their 70s to 90s.
There are currently 140 people in hospital with COVID, a figure Professor Esterman said "wouldn't be causing SA Health too much concern".
"If it got to double that number then they would start getting really worried," he said.
Professor Esterman said health authorities were also dealing with more cases of influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
"It's a triple whammy at the moment," he said.
