Australia’s COVID‑19 Surge: Record Hospital Numbers and a Push for Masks
Australia is in the throes of a third Omicron wave, driven by the fast‑moving BA.4 and BA.5 sub‑variants. Over the past week more than 300,000 cases have been logged — and officials suspect the real figure could be roughly twice that.
Top‑Line Trend: Hospital Admissions Near Record Highs
- On Wednesday, 53,850 new cases were reported, the largest daily total in two months.
- Currently 5,350 Australians are in hospital with COVID‑19, just shy of the January record of 5,390 during the BA.1 wave.
- Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia are each seeing the highest admission numbers the country has seen since the pandemic began.
Government’s Take‑away: More Support, Masks, and Work‑From‑Home
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, while resisting calls to re‑enable strict lockdowns, urged businesses to let employees work remotely.
“If you have mandates, you’ve got to enforce them,” Albanese told reporters. “There are mandates on public transport, but not everyone is wearing a mask.”
Unions are demanding that employers go beyond the government’s pandemic leave payouts and provide:
- Full‑pay paid leave for staff who need to isolate.
- Free rapid antigen tests.
“No worker should have to decide between putting food on the table or isolating with COVID,” said Michele O’Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
Boosting the Parachute: Who’s Getting Shots?
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly warned that the number of hospitalized patients will soon hit a new record.
We’re looking at a potential burst of “millions” of new cases in the coming weeks. Although 95 % of Australians over 16 have received two doses, only about 71 % have gotten three or more doses.
Medical Voices: Masks Are No Longer Optional
Australian Medical Association President Omar Khorshid made it clear: masks are no longer a choice.
“We don’t have optional seat belts, we don’t have optional speed limits. There’re a lot of limits on our freedoms that we accept because it’s the right thing to do,” he told radio station 2GB.
Frontline health workers are also falling ill or in isolation, adding pressure to an already strained system.
What to Expect Moving Forward
- Businesses may need to pivot back to remote work for their staff.
- More hospitals could see a surge in admissions as the wave hits its peak.
- The push for booster shots and mask usage will likely intensify as the government seeks to curb the spread.
As the pandemic marches on, Australians find themselves juggling work-from-home lattes, raccoon‑shit careful mask patchwork, and the urgency of a booster jab, all while fighting to keep hospital beds from filling up.
