Australia amidst new Covid wave: Chief Medical Officer

Canberra: Australia's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Paul Kelly on Tuesday said the country is in the midst of another wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kelly urged Australians to take additional precautions against Covid-19 infection, including wearing masks, staying at home if experiencing symptoms and staying up to date on vaccinations, reports Xinhua news agency.

In a statement, the CMO said the government was closely monitoring the spread of Omicron variants XBB and BQ.1.

In the week to November 4 Australia recorded an average of 5,300 new Covid-19 cases every day, representing an average increase from 4,891 cases per day in the previous week ending on October 28.

"All indications are that this is the start of a new Covid-19 wave in Australia. This was to be expected and will be part of living with COVID-19 into the future," Kelly said in a statement.

"The overseas experience is that these new variants have driven increases in case numbers, and hospitalisation at a rate proportionate to these increases, because of their ability to evade the immunity provided by prior infection and vaccination," he added.

Some vaccination experts believed that the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) should recommend a fifth vaccine dose.

Currently all Australians aged 30 and above are eligible for four doses.