The state recorded another 9730 cases and three deaths on Friday, but there has been no notable increase in the number of patients needing hospital treatment.

Some 265 people are in hospital with the virus, 14 of whom are in intensive care.

The current wave is largely the result of the BA2 Omicron variant and although its arrival is earlier than predicted, Chief Health Officer John Gerrard says it’s not unexpected.

“There is no clear indication at this stage stage when this wave will peak, it’s a bit too early, we haven’t got enough data (but) it will be some time in April,” he said on Friday.

“We’ve always known that there will be further waves, this will be the future for months and years to come, and we’re not going to overreact every time there is another wave of the virus.”

Covid-19 infections had increased by 54 per cent from a baseline two weeks ago, and about one in 50 school-aged children had tested positive in the past week, Dr Gerrard said.

Just under half of recent cases are from the same household as a known infection, and about one in four PCR tests are returning a positive result.

While virus hospital numbers haven’t increased, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the number of staff off work because they were Covid-19 positive or needing to quarantine was having an impact on the health system.

More than 2400 health workers are furloughed, up from about 1600 at the start of the week.