The number of COVID-19 patients in NSW hospitals has more than doubled since Christmas as experts predict case numbers could reach 100,000 a day and medical professionals warn of a “widespread staffing crisis”.
NSW recorded 22,577 cases on Saturday, with 901 in hospital and 79 in intensive care – up 388 and 52 in a week, respectively.
Professor Adrian Esterman, the chair of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of South Australia, said NSW could easily hit 100,000 daily cases by the end of January if the virus maintains its trajectory.
Professor Esterman says with a current reproductive rate of more than two, case numbers in NSW are doubling every four days.
Professor Esterman says he expected the NSW government would be forced to reintroduce additional measures to subdue the soaring caseload or the hospital system would become overwhelmed.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the focus was now on monitoring the health system’s capacity, which remains at “manageable levels”.
Perrottet says they will continue adapting their response as needed and if the facts and their evidence base change, they will adapt again.
COVID-19 cases in NSW hospitals have risen almost five-fold since the start of December and Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said the impact of these new admissions was already being felt in extremely busy emergency departments and an acute shortage of nurses exacerbated by staff getting the virus.
He expected fresh restrictions on elective surgery following the Christmas break to free up space for COVID-19 cases.
He says even though the COVID patients are not as sick as they were with Delta and there are less in ICU, they’re still taking up beds, they still need nurses to look after them.
[Source: Sydney Morning Herald]
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