Covid cases drop across South Australia as the flu numbers continue to rise

Covid cases in South Australia have dropped by about a third but the frequency of flu is continuing to rise.

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Covid cases dropped by about a third in South Australia last week but the number of people falling victim to the flu continues to steadily rise.

Covid cases have dropped by 200. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

There were 2593 new cases of Covid reported in the state in the past week, compared with 3728 in the previous week – a 30 per cent drop.

There were 129 people in hospital with Covid – down from 198 the week prior – with four of them in ICU and one ventilated.

A total of 24 Covid-related deaths were notified to SA Health in the past week, ranging from people aged in their 50s to 90s.

The steep fall in Covid cases comes as flu numbers continue to rise across the state.

There have been 4772 cases of influenza recorded in SA so far this year, down from 2500 at the same time last year, with 502 of those admitted to hospital.

Weekly flu case numbers reached 800 last week – the highest weekly total this year. There has been one flu death this year.

In the last week, 11,985 people took a PCR test – down about 7 per cent from the 12,922 tests taken in the previous week.

A total of 812 PCR tests returned a positive results with a further 1781 positive Rapid Antigen Tests being reported.

The steady fall in Covid cases follows the expected jump we witnessed at the end of autumn and start of winter.

“As we approach winter and colder weather, it is natural for people to spend more time indoors and this is when respiratory viruses like Covid-19 and influenza spread more easily,” an SA Health spokesman said.