Could the COVID-19 winter wave be past its peak?

As COVID-19 case numbers fall around the country, epidemiologists are cautiously optimistic we might have passed the peak of the winter surge.

The national seven-day average number of cases is down 10 per cent compared to a week ago, with cases falling since July 24.

The fall in COVID cases follows a collapse in the number of influenza cases since May, suggesting the worst of winter’s wave of illnesses could be behind us.

But experts continue to warn against complacency, with new Burnet Institute modelling showing near universal mask wearing inside could decrease the number of COVID cases by up to 23 per cent, and the number of COVID deaths by 14 per cent.

Today on Please Explain, national science reporter Liam Mannix joins Bianca Hall to discuss the latest on COVID-19, and a new theory about where it came from.

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