Calls for calm as its revealed ZERO Covid patients with Omicron variant have been admitted to ICU

Not a single Covid patient in Australia’s ICU wards has the Omicron variant even a month after the mutant strain arrived on our shores.   

Panic is setting in across the country as cases rise at an astronomical rate, worst in NSW which had a record 3,057 new infections on Tuesday.

But Health Minister Greg Hunt downplayed the seriousness of the latest Covid outbreak, insisting ‘you are less likely to go to hospital with Omicron and you are less likely to lose your life with Omicron’.

‘But having said that, the best protection is to be vaccinated. And if you are eligible and due for your booster, now’s the time to come forward.’

A national cabinet meeting on Wednesday between state and federal leaders is set to map out the festive season for Australia, with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet pushing to reduce booster wait times from five months to four.

There are 37 Aussies who have been hospitalised with Omicron, but none have yet been admitted to ICU, something experts say is thanks to high vaccination rates.

Mr Perrottet wants Australians to be able to get third third shot four months after their second after health advice it protects against to new variant. 

Greg Hunt (pictured) has called for calm over skyrocketing Omicron cases after revealing zero patients infected with the variant have been admitted to intensive care

‘The health and safety of our people comes first, but we will make those changes based on fact, not fear,’ Mr Perrottet said.

‘I understand there is some new modelling from the federal government presented tomorrow at the national cabinet.

‘We will work through those issues and make sure we do everything we can in our state, as we have done over the last two years, to keep people safe, to keep the economy moving, to keep people in jobs.’

Mr Perrottet was speaking in response to new modelling by the Doherty Institute claiming Australia would have 200,000 new cases a day by January unless restrictions were re-imposed.

State leaders are looking to resist bringing back restrictions in the face of skyrocketing cases as a result of the Omicron variant

In data released Tuesday, the Doherty Institute claims without low-to-medium restrictions being mandated, including limits on visitors and density in pubs, cafes and restaurants, the country could face millions of Covid cases within weeks.

As a part of the predicted 200,000 cases a day, researchers predicted hospitalisations could hit 4,000 a day – putting a heavy strain on the medical system.

This would lead to between 8,000 and 10,000 patients in ICUs over the course of the wave, based on modelling of how many would get sick enough to need it.   

‘Boosters alone will not be fast enough to halt the spread of Omicron,’ the Doherty Institute said.

The Doherty Institute concluded the data based off current restrictions, which include no lockdowns, no retail restrictions, and open schools.

It also assumes Omicron has the same severity of disease as Delta, something that has yet to be proven and is widely believed to be incorrect by experts.  

Australian National University professor Peter Collignon AM told Daily Mail Australia the grim prediction is ‘completely unbelievable’.

A leading infectious diseases expert has rejected new Covid modelling that predicts Australia will see 200,000 cases a day by the end of January, calling it ‘ridiculous’. Pictured: Sydney Christmas parties are in full swing despite rising Covid cases

‘I don’t know where they’ve come up with this modelling but it’s not based on any real world data,’ he said.

‘They are assumptions that do not correlate to anything we’ve seen before in summer in any other country.

‘If there were 200,000 cases a day, the whole of Australia would be infected in just a few months. That hasn’t happened anywhere in the world.’ 

If the dire prediction is accurate, Australia would have four times the number of cases as Britain did in its horror summer when infections peaked at about 45,000 cases a day.

‘They’ve got twice the population of us and far less vaccination. So I just find that figure unbelievable and not realistic,’ Professor Collignon said.

‘We haven’t seen this in South Africa or anywhere else in the world.’

Professor Collignon also explained why the potential reintroduction of mask mandates may not have much of an impact on containing the spread.

‘Face masks might decrease your risks by about 10 per cent but over the medium to long term it won’t really make a lot of difference, particularly in summer when people won’t use them properly. That’s the reality of it,’ he said.

‘I find their figure of 200,000 unbelievable, therefore I find their assumptions about masks probably unbelievable too.’