NSW reports MASSIVE spike in Covid cases
NSW has reported a massive surge in Covid-19 cases, due to a processing glitch resulting in positive cases being backlogged.
On Wednesday 30,402 new Covid cases were reported in the state, with 22,748 being confirmed with a rapid antigen test and 7,654 from PCR testing.
However, NSW Health said a "significant" number of positive RATs registered between Sunday and Monday were being reported in today's numbers.
NSW Health said the delay in reporting was due to a "data processing issue".
"These positive RATs from Sunday and Monday artificially inflate the cases being reported today for the 24 hours to 4pm Tuesday," NSW Health said
The number of Covid cases reported by NSW significantly dropped on Monday, to some 8000 cases, compared to Sunday's total of 13,093.
On Wednesday, the state also confirmed five deaths. There are 1016 people in hospital, with 36 people in the ICU.
On Tuesday, NSW recorded 10,689 positive tests and a total of 8,911 positive Covid cases on Monday.
The latest spike comes after NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said modelling provided to the government showed average daily Covid cases could double over the coming four weeks.
On Tuesday, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard warned researchers believe there will be another surge in mid-April.
"The information is that we can expect to see an uptick, quite substantially, very soon," he said on Tuesday, referencing unpublished data from researchers at the University of NSW, the same researchers who accurately predicted the surge of cases in summer.
"By the middle of April, we could be looking at double the number of cases we've got now," he said.
Mr Hazzard urged people to wear masks, stay home if symptomatic and maintain frequent handwashing.
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