COVID-19 is at high levels. Influenza is at moderate levels. RSV remains at high levels.
COVID-19 activity has rapidly increased over the last week of reporting. Influenza activity is increasing with the number of admissions from emergency departments increasing. Test positivity for influenza, which is a key indicator of activity, has increased to 8.2%. Measures of RSV continue to show a high level of activity although there has been some decline in the youngest children and test positivity has continues to decline. The highest rates of notification for RSV and influenza are in younger age groups, while those 65 and older have the highest rates of COVID notifications. Pertussis and pneumonia are unseasonably high in school aged children.
Everyone can help reduce the spread of respiratory pathogens through simple measures such as, staying home if unwell and wearing a mask if you need to go out, staying up to date with recommended vaccinations and practicing good hygiene, including regular handwashing.
NSW Health continually reviews the methods used to monitor respiratory virus activity in New South Wales. This is due to changes in testing, notification patterns and levels of respiratory virus, including COVID-19, in the community. These changes affect the usefulness of notifications for monitoring virus activity and community transmission over time. The Public Health, Rapid, Emergency and Syndromic Surveillance (PHREDSS) data, COVID-19 sewage surveillance program, whole genome sequencing (WGS) data and sentinel laboratory respiratory virus test results are currently of most value for monitoring COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses of importance in the community. Registration of positive COVID-19 rapid antigen tests (RAT) in NSW ceased on 30 September 2023 and notifications now only reflect cases referred by a doctor for PCR. NSW Health also monitors COVID-19 outbreaks in residential aged-care facilities that are published by the Australian Government and COVID-19 antiviral prescriptions dispensed in NSW.
The data source for this report updates as new information becomes available. Therefore, this report cannot be directly compared to previous versions of the NSW Respiratory Surveillance Report or to previous reporting periods. For additional information on the data sources and methods presented within this report please refer to COVID-19 surveillance report data sources and methodology.
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