(Bloomberg) -- Covid-19 hospital admissions have eased for two days straight in Australia’s most-populous state, New South Wales, the first time that’s happened in more than a month.

The dip in hospitalizations, as well as intensive care admissions, comes as health authorities say the current wave of cases, fueled by the dominant omicron strain, could be nearing its peak in some parts of the country. Still, daily deaths continue to edge higher, with 46 reported in the state on Friday. 

“While it is a difficult day for our state, there are some reassuring signs,” NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters on Friday. “From a hospitalization perspective today and from an intensive care perspective, we continue to track better than our best case scenario.”

There are now 2,743 people hospitalized in New South Wales, home to more than 8 million people, with 209 in intensive care.

In Victoria, the second-most populous state, there are 1,096 people hospitalized and 121 in intensive care. It reported 20 deaths on Friday. 

The surge in omicron cases in many parts of Australia pushed Western Australia, one of the world’s final Covid-Zero holdouts, to suspend plans to reopen its borders on Feb. 5. Premier Mark McGowan said opening the borders would cause a “flood of disease” in the state. 

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