As the world continues to grapple with the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Victoria finds itself in the midst of a fresh wave of infections.

The state is witnessing a concerning spike in hospitalisations, with JN.1—a new subvariant that’s rapidly becoming the dominant strain of the virus.

This development mirrors international trends, signalling a global challenge in the fight against COVID-19.

Victoria's seven-day average for COVID-19 hospitalisations has surged to 377.

Although these numbers have not yet reached the peak levels of hospitalisations, which was seen during the wave in May and June of the previous year. That surge brought the number of hospitalisations to 488.

A new variant of COVID-19 has emerged. Image source: Freepik.

Regardless, the rapid rise is causing alarm among health officials and the public alike.

The emergence of the JN.1 subvariant is particularly troubling due to its swift spread throughout the community.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Dr Clare Looker, expressed concern over the variant's rapid dominance, noting that it has quickly become the most prevalent strain in a matter of weeks.

This 'wave on wave' pattern, as Dr. Looker described it, is challenging the state's recovery efforts from previous surges of the virus.

'Part of the concern with this new variant has just really been the speed with which it's taken off,' Dr Looker said.

'So over a few weeks, we've really seen it very quickly be the dominant variant in the community.'

In response to this uptick in cases and hospitalisations, health authorities are calling on the housing and care sectors to implement protective measures for those most vulnerable to COVID-19.

This includes senior Victorians, individuals with pre-existing medical conditions, and residents in aged care and disability care facilities.

Recommended precautions include the use of masks and surveillance testing to mitigate the risk of transmission.

COVID-19 symptoms can appear within 2-14 days after exposure, with a runny nose, sore throat, coughing, shortness of breath, and fever being common indicators of infection.

While the mandate for mask-wearing has been lifted since early 2022, those at higher risk are strongly encouraged by the authorities to continue wearing masks in high-risk settings or if they exhibit any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19.

The Department of Health remains vigilant, closely monitoring hospitalisation rates and conducting wastewater testing to track the spread of the virus.

Key Takeaways

• Victoria is experiencing a new COVID-19 wave, with hospitalisations on the rise due to a new subvariant, JN.1.
• The seven-day average for hospitalisations has reached 377, a significant increase but still lower than the peak in the previous year.
• High-risk groups, such as the elderly and those with medical conditions, have been advised to wear masks and utilise surveillance testing.
• The Chief Health Officer of Victoria highlighted the rapid spread of the JN.1 variant and its emergence as the dominant strain in the community.

As we navigate this latest challenge, it is essential to stay informed, practice good hygiene, and seek medical advice if experiencing symptoms.

Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.

 

[Rob44]

I think we can still have some sort of normality we just need to be cautiously, maybe wear a mask in congested areas. There are alot of people still wearing mask.

There has been alot of flu's around here in Sydney actually worst than covid

The numerous influenza infections and colds that I have had during the last 70+ years have never had me coughing up gobs of fresh blood, some mixed with green mucous, from just before Christmas to perhaps January 3rd. That is after 5 vaccinations since Covid-19 was let loose by the idiot LNP Premiers of NSW and some other fatuous politicians in our Federal government. Precious few people bother to wear a mask.

 

[Rob44]

It's in NSW as well.

Hubby went to his friends on Friday to play Backgammon and his friend was well . Then Friday night he became sick,

Saturday morning he was very sick and tested positive for covid. He is still sick in bed .

Now hopefully hubby hasn't brought it home. We are going away this weekend

I've had covid twice and just got over the worst flu only a couple of weeks ago.

Maybe vulnerable people need to wear a mask when out in congested areas.

Maybe everyone should wear a mask so as to restrict the range of their cough or sneeze. Research from the USA indicates that an uncontrolled sneeze can generate a 26 feet-long spread of fine droplets carrying Covid-19 plus other nasties.

 

[Suzanne rose]

Maybe everyone should wear a mask so as to restrict the range of their cough or sneeze. Research from the USA indicates that an uncontrolled sneeze can generate a 26 feet-long spread of fine droplets carrying Covid-19 plus other nasties.

Totally agree

 

[Suzanne rose]

Fingers crossed you and your husband don't get it.

When he told me I couldn't believe it, I was so sick before Xmas I think early December, I was sure it was covid but after 5 neg test I thought it was just a really bad flu.
I really don't want to get sick again .

Hubby just called his friend and his worst, with really high temp ,body ache and coughing

 

[Penny4]

When he told me I couldn't believe it, I was so sick before Xmas I think early December, I was sure it was covid but after 5 neg test I thought it was just a really bad flu.
I really don't want to get sick again .

Hubby just called his friend and his worst, with really high temp ,body ache and coughing

Yes, my friend who lives in Sydney had it in November and had nasty symptoms with it.
Hopefully your hubby will be lucky and won't catch it.

 

[Colette 3799]

And really everyone should be washing hands and hand sanitising.

And I should add that myself and my husband have never had Covid - I hope I don’t mozz us saying that lol. We are both very social plus we go to the gym and I go to concerts. I’m surprised we haven’t had it tbh

 

[Rob44]

And really everyone should be washing hands and hand sanitising.

Yes. Have you visited the local supermarket recently? I have, and conclude that such activities are seen as most un-Australian and are a serious insult to our culture.

 

[Bridgit]

OK you dumb bunnies who think Covid-19 is no longer a pandemic. It's still a pandemic that is now an endemic in Australia so wear a mask when you go to the local shopping centre, at the very least. I caught, sorry was given, covid-19 ten days before Christmas. Some idiot had coughed or sneezed over my wife, or nearby her, whilst at the supermarket and a couple of days later she ended up with with Covid-19. Then of course I was given the privilege of dealing with the damned virus. How did it deal with me? Well the usual headache and low-grade fever and sore throat and cough. The only problem with the cough is that it wouldn't stop and during a period of three days during Christmas I was spitting up gobs of fresh blood from my lungs. Then came New Year's Eve and I was spitting up green mucous stained with fresh blood and then more recently just green mucous. And that was despite the Paxlovid pills I prescribed during the first day I showed symptoms (they cost the government $1134.85c for 1 course so that is why they are restricted; we get them for $30 if prescribed by a GP) that are supposed to ease one's misery.

And the lung function test that I have just had was not that re-assuring apart from the fact that simply walking leaves me exhausted because my lungs no longer function in the way to which I have become accustomed to during the last 70 or so years of walking. That's after 5 vaccinations; the bug (sorry the idiot who passed it onto my wife) hit me about 4 days before I had been granted the OK to have the sixth vaccination against the new variants. As for the anti-vaxxers and our politicians who have let C-19 run amok amongst at least 12 million Australia, I have no absolutely polite thoughts towards you.

So wear that mask, properly, to cover your nose!

Sorry to hear you have had Covid - my husband and I have not had the jab and we have not had Covid ever. We avoid crowded areas and if we have to go there we wear a mask - I do not go into supermarkets. We keep our immune system chugging along in high gear and will continue to do so with our doctors supervision. Most of our protection is in our hands coupled with commonsense - unfortunately there are many among us who are short in that commodity. All the best to you and your wife.

 

[Rob44]

Thanks for the good wishes. Some people just seem to get a bad dose of sniffles from the virus whereas others end up dead or with Long-Covid. It would seem to be a matter of genetics as well as age and/or pre-existing issues. One can only hope that next and future waves of the virus, which are inevitable, will see it attenuate and that the next unborn generation develops a better immune response to infection because of what is happening to all of us now. Vaccination certainly does help; I was at the end of my 6 months vax-5 period and about to get vax number 6 against the latest versions of C-19.

In the meantime, wearing an N95 mask reduces risk of both spreading and catching the bug.

 

[IAN3005]

I trust that should you too end up coughing up fresh blood because of a Covid-19 infection, you will begin to appreciate that it is not scaremongering and that it is not influenza.

 

[IAN3005]

No worries..... I have had it 3 times, and I 'm considered high risk at 76 I got covid whilst recovering from a stroke and 3 heart attacks, so I consider myself to have natural immunity... no jab and don't intend to have one.
Plus they built us to withstand anything being born and raised in Zambia.

 

[wendell]

had he had the dreaded JAB?

yes and so did I , we were safe and I still am no Covid I blame the hospital for poor hygiene and not enough care

 

[wendell]

OK you dumb bunnies who think Covid-19 is no longer a pandemic. It's still a pandemic that is now an endemic in Australia so wear a mask when you go to the local shopping centre, at the very least. I caught, sorry was given, covid-19 ten days before Christmas. Some idiot had coughed or sneezed over my wife, or nearby her, whilst at the supermarket and a couple of days later she ended up with with Covid-19. Then of course I was given the privilege of dealing with the damned virus. How did it deal with me? Well the usual headache and low-grade fever and sore throat and cough. The only problem with the cough is that it wouldn't stop and during a period of three days during Christmas I was spitting up gobs of fresh blood from my lungs. Then came New Year's Eve and I was spitting up green mucous stained with fresh blood and then more recently just green mucous. And that was despite the Paxlovid pills I had been prescribed during the first day I showed symptoms and had tested positive (the pills cost the government $1134.85c for 1 course so that is why they are restricted; we get them for $30 if prescribed by a GP) that are supposed to ease one's misery.

And the lung function test that I have just had was not that re-assuring apart from the fact that simply walking leaves me exhausted because my lungs no longer function in the way to which I have become accustomed to during the last 70 or so years of walking. That's after 5 vaccinations; the bug (sorry the idiot who passed it onto my wife) hit me about 4 days before I had been granted the OK to have the sixth vaccination against the new variants. As for the anti-vaxxers and our politicians who have let C-19 run amok amongst at least 12 million Australia, I have no absolutely polite thoughts towards you.

So wear that mask, properly, to cover your nose!

I sympathise with you as I was there when The hospital gave my husband Covid and I frantically tried to save him to no avail Blood clots forming in the lungs and every where else no to eating eventually no can swallow speak or open eyes . Kidney failure and die .

 

[Suzanne rose]

And I should add that myself and my husband have never had Covid - I hope I don’t mozz us saying that lol. We are both very social plus we go to the gym and I go to concerts. I’m surprised we haven’t had it tbh

The first time I had it most of my family also got it, some with hardly any symptoms others got really sick. Hubby was the only one who didn't catch it.
When I had it the second time hubby then caught it and was really sick borderline hospital.
His friend who tested positive on Saturday, it's his first time catching covid and he is really sick. It's like one of those diseases that eventually catch up with you.

It's great you have missed it and I hope your luck stays with you , but apparently this new strain is very contagious and with people not taking care then alot more will come down with it

 

[wendell]

And really everyone should be washing hands and hand sanitising.

We were taught to wash hand after toilet before food and eating and also to wash hands when arriving back home. This was all old school at our home and still is .

 

[Suzanne rose]

We were taught to wash hand after toilet before food and eating and also to wash hands when arriving back home. This was all old school at our home and still is .

And hopefully it is still taught and practiced in all homes. We still use handle sanitiser as well especially when we are out

 

[Rob44]

No worries..... I have had it 3 times, and I 'm considered high risk at 76 I got covid whilst recovering from a stroke and 3 heart attacks, so I consider myself to have natural immunity... no jab and don't intend to have one.
Plus they built us to withstand anything being born and raised in Zambia.

Good luck for the future; some of us are not as lucky as you!

 

[Rob44]

I sympathise with you as I was there when The hospital gave my husband Covid and I frantically tried to save him to no avail Blood clots forming in the lungs and every where else no to eating eventually no can swallow speak or open eyes . Kidney failure and die .

That is a sad story and my heartfelt sympathies to you. Maybe the Paxlovid pills did more for me than I gave them credit for.

The coughing was worst after I had finished the course of Paxlovid. The odd thing was that after I had finished the course of Paxlovid, I tested negative and about 2 or 3 days after the coughing had kicked in badly, strongly positive; I was told by a doctor that it is called "Covid rebound" caused allegedly by remnants of the viral load floating around in the system. I used Sudafed, (2 pills every 6 hours), cough mixture and the anti-histamine c-zine to control the worst of the coughing, which no doubt resulted from serious inflammation in my lungs and the consequent rupture of small blood vessels.

If that should help anyone in the future.................?

 

[Suzanne rose]

That is a sad story and my heartfelt sympathies to you. Maybe the Paxlovid pills did more for me than I gave them credit for.

The coughing was worst after I had finished the course of Paxlovid. The odd thing was that after I had finished the course of Paxlovid, I tested negative and about 2 or 3 days after the coughing had kicked in badly, strongly positive; I was told by a doctor that it is called "Covid rebound" caused allegedly by remnants of the viral load floating around in the system. I used Sudafed, (2 pills every 6 hours), cough mixture and the anti-histamine c-zine to control the worst of the coughing, which no doubt resulted from serious inflammation in my lungs and the consequent rupture of small blood vessels.

If that should help anyone in the future.................?

Is the Paxlovid the antiviral tablets ? That's what my doctor gave me when I have the 2nd bout. Hubby was also given the antivirals but was still really sick

 

[Rob44]

Is the Paxlovid the antiviral tablets ? That's what my doctor gave me when I have the 2nd bout. Hubby was also given the antivirals but was still really sick

Paxlovid is the name that I recall. My wife was given something else. Both lots are hellishly expensive being more than $1000AUD for a 5-day course, but we only pay $30 at the chemist's shop. Some drug company is surely price-gouging! Covid-19 is a bastard of a bug and the slack approach of government (State and Federal) to dealing with it and the anti-vaxxers, and hence the public's utter disregard of essential precautions, have done Australia no good at all.

A couple of years ago about 1 million academic papers had already been written about C-19, ranging from air-flow under various conditions to how it damages assorted organs in the body to what might cause Long-covid. Some of this stuff has been summarised for the general public in SciTech Daily, a free daily USA e-zine one can subscribe to easily through the internet. It also has plenty of other stuff useful for anyone interested in any aspect of science, including kids at school and their science teachers. Back numbers are readily available.