SYDNEY, Australia -- As the highly contagious Omicron BA.2 sub-variant continues to spread and Australia heads into winter, the deaths related to the virus have begun to mount.
The nation's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), recorded 22,107 new cases on Thursday and 17 deaths, the highest daily death toll in over a month.
Chair of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of South Australia Professor Adrian Esterman told Xinhua on Wednesday the current wave of the virus was likely coming to its peak in NSW.
"The effective reproduction number (Reff) for NSW is now at 1.01, indicating that NSW has either reached or is very close to reaching the peak of the second Omicron wave," Esterman said.
In contrast, the daily average of cases in the Australian state of Victoria has been going up over the past week, meaning this state may see a later peak.
Victoria reported 11,292 new cases and four deaths on Thursday, bringing its total Covid-19 death toll to 2,743.
Esterman noted that hospitalisations and deaths regularly experience a two-to-three-week lag from case numbers, potentially indicating the death toll in both NSW and Victoria would continue to rise.
"There is no surprise that case numbers have been rising, due to Omicron BA.2 taking over; and (the) relaxing of many public health measures," said Esterman.