New COVID-19 wave expected in NSW within weeks

New South Wales has been warned that a fresh COVID-19 surge is beginning, prompted by the growing prominence of new sub-variants.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant Credit: NSW Health

New sub-variants - XBB, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 - are expected to become the dominant variants across the country. But the World Health Organisation says at this stage, there is no data to suggest an increase in disease severity when compared with the other Omicron sublineages.

Meanwhile, new research from two national studies has found that more than two-thirds of Australians have been infected with COVID-19, but the rate could be as high as 90 per cent among children - particularly when including unvaccinated children.

Dr Archana Koirala

Dr Archana Koirala says the research also found that the blood samples of children who had been vaccinated all showed a robust immune response, meaning they all developed antibodies against the virus.

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