What’s going on with Covid in WA?

We all seem to know someone who’s been quarantining with Covid lately. Young and older and old. Seems a bit like the Old Days of 2020. Even a surge in numbers around the country.

So, what’s happening around WA. What’s the WA Health data telling us?

Well, here’s WA Health’s summary for the week of 1 to 7 January 2024 –
• 432 COVID-19 cases reported
• 61 new hospital admissions and 2 admissions into an intensive care unit
• 12 deaths
• 2744 COVID-19 PCR tests conducted.

In a little more detail, for that reporting week WA Health report case numbers decreased by 2.3% compared to the previous week. The previous week was of course Christmas to New Year. A drop to be expected you’d expect.

However, the number of PCR tests increased by 10% compared to the previous week, with a 7-day average positivity rate of 9.9%.

The moving seven-day average case rate per 100,000 population increased in the Goldfields,
Pilbara and South West regions, remained steady in the Kimberley region and decreased in the
Great Southern, Perth Metropolitan, Midwest, and Wheatbelt regions. The seven-day average case rate for the Perth metropolitan area (2.3 cases/100,000 population) is slightly higher than the non-metropolitan regions combined (2.2 cases/100,000 population).

The seven-day average age-specific rate decreased in the 50 to 69 years and the 70+ year age
groups. The rate remained steady in the 10 to 19 years and 20 to 29 years age groups, and
increased in the 0 to 9 years and 30 to 49 years age groups. The highest rate was in the 70+ years age group (9.8 cases/100,000 population), and the lowest rate in the 10 – 19 years age groups (0.3 case/100,000 population).

The 7-day average of currently hospitalised cases increased by 2.2% from 180 the previous week to 184 tin the latest week, and intensive care unit cases decreased from 6 last week to 5 this week. Statistically insignificant one would say. New hospital admissions related to COVID-19 increased however from 47 previos week to 61 in the reporting week, and direct intensive care unit admissions decreased with 2 in the latest period.

Deaths increased this week with 12 deaths reported compared to 0 deaths last week.
This week, 29 cases were reported in the Aboriginal population, a slight increase compared to
last week. Case rates in the Aboriginal population are higher than the non-Aboriginal population, with a 7-day average rate ratio of 1.7 this reporting week. There were no deaths reported in the Aboriginal population this week.

* By Michael Barker, Editor, Fremantle Shipping News

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