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When Coldplay entertains more than 100,000 concert-goers at Optus Stadium they will be joined by billions of other living organisms – a soup of highly transmissible COVID variants floating around the crowd.

Prominent epidemiologists have cautioned the public to take extra precautions as the latest figures from WA Health showed case numbers were steadily rising in the state as the British rock groups’ World of Spheres tour gets ready to kick off.

Chris Martin and Coldplay will play two concerts in Perth this weekend. Credit: DPA

ICU cases have risen from zero to three, and two deaths were recorded in the most recent reporting week. Many of the total reported cases were among the 40 to 69-year-old cohort.

WA’s chief Health Officer Andy Robertson said COVID-19 has been increasing since early September – primarily driven by the Eris variant, and it was an expected part of the ongoing evolution of the virus in the community as immunity waned over time.

He said as of November 14, 201 patients were in WA hospitals with COVID-19 – still lower than the 268 and 258 patients hospitalised during the previous two peaks in December 2022 and May 2023.

COVID hospitalisations remain the key metric for WA Health after the website for mandatory reporting of positive RATs was shut down in October.

A WA Health spokeswoman said it also monitored COVID in the community by analysing other metrics, including COVID in wastewater, ICU admissions, death data and prescription data.

Analysis of wastewater from treatment plants in Beenyup, Subiaco and Woodman Point showed there were around 10 cases per 100,000 people.

University of Western Australia epidemiologist Zoe Hyde said anyone attending the concert should wear a mask, preferably an N95, on public transport and at the stadium.

Hyde, who has never been infected with COVID, said wearing a mask every time you leave the house was one of the best ways to avoid the virus.

“It’s a very simple principle,” she said. “If you don’t breathe the virus in you’re not going to get sick.”

Hyde said the eighth wave of infections came at a time when the current vaccinations available were ‘out of date’.

She said while they offered reasonable protection from severe disease they provided very limited protection against infection.

“It’s absolutely critical that the government really do hurry up with rolling out the new updated vaccines because they will offer much better protection from infection,” she said.

Deakin University chair of epidemiology Catherine Bennett said right now people were at greater risk of COVID infection and should put extra precautions in place.

“This is a slightly different looking sub variant yet again so it leaves us vulnerable. “Fortunately, we’re not seeing as many people become very unwell.”

But Bennett warned whenever infection rates rise, so too does the number of people who are at risk of severe disease ending up in hospital or dead.

“It makes sense to put masks on if you’re around crowds,” she said. “You don’t want to be getting this infection before Christmas.”

Bennett also recommended masks in aged care and hospital settings, on public transport and indoors when you can’t maintain a safe distance.

She said if it had been more than six months since your last booster you should consider having the jab now.

“That will take a week or two to come into effect, but it will see people through this wave,” Bennett said.

WA Premier Roger Cook, who contracted COVID-19 earlier this month following his trip to Japan, said 40,000 Coldplay tickets had been sold to people outside WA.

During parliament, he said it was important to remain vigilant.

“This is an expected part of the ongoing evolution of COVID-19 in the community, as people’s immunity wanes over time,” Cook said.

“My advice remains the same – stay home if you are sick, wash or sanitise your hands regularly and cover your mouth when you cough. Do not visit high-risk settings such as aged-care facilities or hospitals if you have cold or flu symptoms.”

Hyde said governments had dropped the ball on COVID.

“There’s this hope that COVID is sort of just going to turn into something like a common cold, and we’re just going to have one COVID season per year. Clearly that’s not what’s happened,” she said.

Hyde said WA should look at introducing a ventilation grant similar to a scheme in Victoria that enabled businesses to purchase air purifiers and helped reduce the spread.

“I’d like to see every cafe, every hairdresser, every small little shop, supermarket have an air purifier in the space and if we all will proactively did something like that then we would put a massive dent in transmission,” she said.

“The best thing about tackling this with ventilation and air filtration, is it doesn’t inconvenience anybody.”

Bennett agreed improving ventilation would mean the wave ended sooner and fewer people would be infected.

Coldplay performs at Optus Stadium on Saturday, November 18 and Sunday, November 19.

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