Australia's worst-hit state says COVID-19 hospitalisations may plateau next week

FILE PHOTO: A nurse prepares to test patients for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a clinic at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, Australia, May 12, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

SYDNEY (Reuters) - COVID-19 hospitalisation rates in Australia's most populous state of New South Wales could plateau next week, a top health official said on Friday, as the state suffered record deaths from the virus for a third day.

Pressure on hospitals will likely remain for "the next few weeks", the state's health deputy secretary, Susan Pearce, said, though hospitalisation numbers were tracking better than the best-case scenario in an official modelling a week ago.