The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is pushing up daily case numbers to record highs and while there's no doubt it's highly transmissible, there's not enough data as yet on its severity.
With cases doubling every two to three days in New South Wales, Health Minister Brad Hazzard has warned infections could reach levels not seen so far in Australia.
'What they're telling us is that by the end of January we could be looking at 25,000 cases of the virus every single day."
If case numbers do climb to levels like that, key questions will be how many of those people will require admission to hospital and how many will end up needing to be treated in an intensive care unit.
Brad Hazzard says the state government has done a lot of work to ensure the hospital system is well prepared.
The General Secretary of the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives' Association, Brett Holmes, agrees the state has the hospital beds and equipment it needs - but says there are not enough intensive care nurses.
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