National COVID-19 cases on downward trend

Tara Cosoleto
Jan 20, 2023, updated Jan 20, 2023

The program has been found to speed up discharges from hospitals, freeing up beds. Photo: Getty

Australian COVID-19 cases are on a downward trend, with average daily infections expected to drop for a third consecutive week.

The latest Omicron wave peaked around the Christmas period but a new year has brought a decline in coronavirus cases.

The federal health department last week reported a 26.9 per cent decline in national infections, with hospitalisations and intensive care admissions also down.

That followed a 23.3 per cent drop in cases for the first week of January, with all states and territories reporting significant reductions.

In NSW and Victoria, health departments are reporting a mixed group of COVID-19 sub-variants are still circulating within the community despite seeing declining cases.

NSW Health says the BR.2 variant is the most common variant, while the XBF strain accounts for 29 per cent of new Victorian infections.

The variant running rampant in the United States – dubbed XBB.1.5 – is almost non-existent in Victoria, despite earlier suggestions there were several cases.

“With Australia’s most comprehensive wastewater surveillance, Victoria is well-placed to monitor the emergence of this variant locally,” chief health officer Brett Sutton said in a statement.