Public Health is preparing for COVID-19 to become "endemic" in Tasmania like other respiratory illnesses that see small and large outbreaks throughout the year, but the peak of the first wave could still be weeks away.
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Tasmania recorded a further 751 cases on Thursday morning with 3534 active cases, although director of Public Health Mark Veitch believes that could be about half of the actual number in the community.
One person was in hospital due to COVID, and a further four COVID-positive cases were in hospital but the virus was not considered their primary condition.
Case numbers in South Africa where the Omicron variant was first detected in November have started to fall, indicating its peak is over, whereas NSW - the first Australian state with an outbreak - is still approaching its peak.
Tasmania's per capita case numbers are similar to South Australia, Queensland and the ACT, and accelerated rapidly from January 1.
Dr Veitch said Tasmania should expect COVID to become a permanent part of life, occurring in waves of cases.
"Almost all common respiratory diseases occur in populations as waves. Some of them become endemic, which means they exist in the population almost all the time and reappear as small and large outbreaks," he said.
"COVID is very likely to have a similar sort of behaviour in populations to other respiratory viruses.
"We're expecting this wave, which is now three weeks old ... to continue rising for a week or two at least yet, but it will pass."
The current Tasmanian public health emergency declaration expires on January 12, but is likely to be renewed again.
The order allows Dr Veitch to put in place public health measures that impact the wider population, whereas his powers normally only extend to individuals.
He earlier foreshadowed ending the orders once COVID was circulating in Tasmania as a highly-vaccinated population that no longer required substantial public health measures, such as mask mandates, density limits and mandatory testing.
Dr Veitch said the current outbreak - which he described as the "first wave" of the Omicron variant - would continue to increase this month driven mainly by young adults.
"At the moment the highest instances of COVID is amongst 20-29 year olds, and in fact around three quarters of our cases are aged between the late teens and up to 40," he said.
"I think it's very likely that in the course of this first wave, a very high proportion of people in that young adult age group will become infected with the Omicron strain of COVID, we're seeing that."
Reopening plan well and truly out the window
The government has been forced to rapidly adapt its reopening plan, originally designed for the Delta variant from December 15. Omicron has spread far quicker than Public Health planned, resulting in extreme demand on testing, the rapid introduction of masks and changes to testing requirements.
But senior cabinet minister Michael Ferguson believed the state was coping well.
"I think that Tasmania's in a very positive position going forward," he said.
"The plan that we've embarked upon is working, we've provided Tasmanians with a far greater level of freedom that has previously been possible, allowing our economy to come back to life, and families to be reunited particularly over the precious Christmas and New Year period."
Both Labor and the Greens have been highly critical of the government's response, with Labor announcing an alternative COVID management policy with free testing and greater income support, and the Greens wanting border measures to be reintroduced.
Tasmanian Greens leader Cassy O'Connor said it should not be seen as inevitable that COVID would spread throughout the community, and she feared for those at greater risk of adverse health outcomes.
"That is disgraceful," she said.
"Those numbers which, let's face it, are simply guesswork are all about a 'let it rip' strategy.
"We are being told we have to live with a deadly, disabling and rapidly mutating virus, and neither the Premier nor Public Health have said anything about the effect of long COVID.
"All of this was avoidable. The Premier opened the gates far too early. Omicron was a game changer and he didn't change his game."
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