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Ever duck-dived gracefully under a wave in the ocean, only to be slapped in the face by a sneaky second crest as you emerge?
That’s the metaphor experts are leaning on to describe the “wave on wave” of COVID-19 coursing through Australia. It refers to the wave of infection that was already building in the lead-up to Christmas and a second surge summoned by JN.1, the variant experts expect to dominate infections in 2024.
A new COVID variant is taking over in NSW and Victoria.Credit: iStock
The new variant has contributed to a sharp increase in hospitalisations. Victoria clocked 377 COVID hospitalisations in the week to January 5, the highest number in six months, and NSW’s figures doubled from 200 in mid-December to 400 by the end of the month. About 1400 people arriving at NSW hospitals for various reasons tested positive for COVID in the last week of 2023, the highest number recorded all year.
“When we look at the proportion of people who get tested for COVID using a PCR test, about 17.5 per cent of those test positive,” says Dr Jeremy McAnulty, executive director of health protection at NSW Health. “We haven’t seen that high a level for about a year or so – this reflects a high level of COVID activity in the community.”
Driving much of this latest surge is JN.1, which was the most prevalent strain detected in Victorian wastewater in December. And McAnulty says 36 per cent of infections in NSW are JN.1, which is now close to dethroning the dominant variant EG.5, aka Eris, which accounts for 40 per cent of infections.
So what do we know about the severity of JN.1, and could it soon relinquish its alphanumerical moniker and earn a name from the Greek alphabet, like Omicron and Delta?
What’s JN.1? Meet the new COVID-19 variant doubling hospitalisations
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09.01.2024
Examine, a free weekly newsletter covering science with a sceptical, evidence-based eye, is sent every Tuesday. You’re reading an excerpt – sign up to get the whole newsletter in your inbox.
Ever duck-dived gracefully under a wave in the ocean, only to be slapped in the face by a sneaky second crest as you emerge?
That’s the metaphor experts are leaning on to describe the “wave on wave” of COVID-19 coursing through Australia. It refers........
© The Sydney Morning Herald
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