NSW reports highest level of COVID in a year as those infected with the virus are reminded to stay home

NSW health authorities are calling on those who contract COVID to stay home and take precautions to limit its spread as the state grapples with its highest level of the virus in a year.

A new COVID wave has swept across the state over the holiday period, with two variants being behind the bulk of infections being reported.

Dr Jeremy McAnulty revealed about 1,400 people in the state were presenting to emergency departments with the virus and about 400 were being admitted to hospital each week.

“That’s just people presenting to hospital, so we know there are many more people out there who, fortunately, are not sick enough to require hospitalisations,” he said.

“This reflects a high level of COVID activity in the community at the moment.

New variants behind the rise

Testing has revealed the EG.5 variant has been responsible for about 40 per cent of recent cases and the JN.1 variant has accounted for about 35 to 36 per cent of infections, according to Dr McAnulty.

“We’re seeing a variant called EG.5 and an emerging variant called JN.1, which has been very infectious in many parts of the world,” he said.

“Each of these new variants appears to be more infectious, they’re getting a mutation. It’s kind of what viruses do, they mutate to get around our immune system.”

There’s no evidence JN.1 poses a greater health risk than other COVID-19 variants.