Five years ago, COVID was all we could think about. Today, we'd rather forget about lockdowns, testing queues and social distancing. But the virus that sparked the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, is still circulating.
Author
- Meru Sheel
Associate Professor and Epidemiologist, Infectious Diseases, Immunisation and Emergencies (IDIE) Group, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
Most people who get COVID today will experience only a mild illness. But some people are still at risk of severe illness and are more likely to be hospitalised with COVID. This includes older people, those who are immunocompromised by conditions such as cancer, and people with other health conditions such as diabetes.
Outcomes also tend to be more severe in those who experience social inequities such as homelessness. In the United Kingdom , people living in the 20% most deprived areas have double chance of being hospitalised from infectious diseases than those in the least deprived areas.
How many cases and hospitalisations?
In Australia , 58,000 COVID cases have been reported so far in 2025. However, testing rates have declined and not all positive cases are reported to the government, so case numbers in the community are likely much higher.
Latest data from FluCan , a network of 14 hospitals, found 781 people were hospitalised for COVID complications in the first three months of the year. This " sentinel surveillance " data gives a snapshot from a handful of hospitals, so the actual number of hospitalisations across Australia is expected to be much higher.
While deaths are lower than previous years, 289 people died from COVID-related respiratory infections in the first two months of the year.
What can we expect as we head into winter?
We often see an increase in respiratory infections in winter.
However, COVID peaks aren't just necessarily seasonal . Over the past few years, peaks have tended to appear around every six months .
What are the most common COVID symptoms?
Typical early symptoms of COVID included fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose and shortness of breath. These have remained the most common COVID symptoms across the multiple variant waves .
Early in the pandemic, we realised COVID caused a unique symptom called anosmia - the changed sense of taste or smell. Anosmia lasts about a week and in some cases can last longer. Anosmia was more frequently reported from infections due to the ancestral, Gamma, and Delta variants but not for the Omicron variant, which emerged in 2021 .
However, loss of smell still seems to be associated with some newer variants. A recent French study found anosmia was more frequently reported in people with JN.1.
But the researchers didn't find any differences for other COVID symptoms between older and newer variants.
Should you bother doing a test?
Yes. Testing is particularly important if you experience COVID-like symptoms or were recently exposed to someone with COVID and are at high-risk of severe COVID . You might require timely treatment.
If you are at risk of severe COVID, you can see a doctor or visit a clinic with point-of-care testing services to access confirmatory PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing.
Rapid antigen tests (RATs) approved by Australia's regulator are also still available for personal use.
But a negative RAT doesn't mean that you don't have COVID - especially if you are symptomatic .
If you do test positive, while you don't have to isolate, it's best to stay at home.
If you do leave the house while experiencing COVID symptoms, minimise the spread to others by wearing a well-fitted mask, avoiding public places such as hospitals and avoiding contact with those at higher risk of severe COVID.
How long does COVID last these days?
In most people with mild to moderate COVID, it can last 7-10 days .
Symptomatic people can spread the infection to others from about 48 hours before you develop symptoms to about ten days after developing symptoms. Few people are infectious beyond that.
But symptoms can persist in more severe cases for longer.
A UK study which tracked the persistence of symptoms in 5,000 health-care workers found symptoms were less likely to last for more than 12 weeks in subsequent infections.
General fatigue, for example, was reported in 17.3% of people after the first infection compared with 12.8% after the second infection and 10.8% following the third infection.
Unvaccinated people also had more persistent symptoms.
Vaccinated people who catch COVID tend to present with milder disease and recover faster. This may be because vaccination prevents over-activation of the innate immune response .
Vaccination remains the best way to prevent COVID
Vaccination against COVID continues to be one of the most effective ways to prevent COVID and protect against it. Data from Europe's most recent winter, which is yet to be peer reviewed, reports COVID vaccines were 66% effective at preventing symptomatic, confirmed COVID cases.
Most people in Australia have had at least one dose of the COVID vaccine. But if you haven't, people over 18 years of age are recommended to have a COVID vaccine.
Boosters are available for adults over 18 years of age. If you don't have any underlying immune issues, you're eligible to receive a funded dose every 12 months.
Boosters are recommended for adults 65-74 years every 12 months and for those over 75 years every six months.
Adults over 18 years who are at higher risk because of weaker immune systems are recommended to get a COVID vaccine every 12 months and are eligible every six months.
Check your status and eligibility using this booster eligibility tool and you can access your vaccine history here .
A new review of more than 4,300 studies found full vaccination before a SARS-CoV-2 infection could reduce the risk of long COVID by 27% relative to no vaccination for the general adult population.
With ongoing circulation of COVID, hybrid immunity from natural infection supplemented with booster vaccination can help prevent large-scale COVID waves.
Meru Sheel receives funding from National Health and Medical Research Council and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She serves on WHO's Immunization and Vaccines Related Implementation Research Advisory Committee (IVIR-AC)
