ICU numbers drop as 52 more Covid deaths recorded
Daily Covid deaths across Australia remain high in the nation's two most populous states, with a further 52 fatalities on Wednesday.
NSW reported 27 deaths while Victoria added a further 25 to its pandemic toll.
However NSW's deaths continue to drop from the daunting record high of 52 daily deaths set on Monday.
Cases in the state are also slowly trending down, with 11,807 reported on Wednesday, down from 12,818 on Tuesday, although the latest cases were for a 20-hour period only as NSW Health moves to a new reporting timetable.
The state is transitioning from an 8pm cut off, which has stood since the beginning of the pandemic, to a 4pm cut off of its daily 24-hour reporting period.
"The reason for that is we are transitioning our public reporting to allow our epidemiologists, surveillance officers and data analysts that have been working day and night to move into a more sustainable footing," Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said on Sunday.
She said it would allow their resources to be utilised better as the state moves forward with its response to Covid.
Hospitalisations in NSW sit at 2,622 while 170 people are in ICU – a drop of 16 from Tuesday.
There was an uptick in cases for Victoria on Wednesday, with a rise of more than 3,000 cases to 14,553.
There are 768 people in hospital, 99 of whom are in ICU.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended the federal government's lack of a rapid antigen test stockpile prior to the Omicron wave, suggesting it was impossible to predict the need for them.
Paramedics in NSW pushed to their limits
While ICU rates are on the decline, a new report into NSW's paramedics has revealed ambulances are taking longer to arrive due to staff shortages.
A Productivity Commission report released on Tuesday shows the median emergency response time in NSW is 12.5 minutes - the second-slowest in the country over the 2020-21 reporting period.
And while the pandemic has intensified the issue, Australian Paramedics Association NSW president Chris Kastelan says the problem is predominately down to a lack of funding.
"Now is a critical time for our leaders to step up and make meaningful commitments to improve ambulance staffing," he said.
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