Flu or cold symptoms? When to go to a GP, urgent care clinic or emergency department

That's the message the government is sending this flu season, a time when experts say hospitals tend to be the busiest, and wait times blow out. While managing cold and flu cases is a national health concern, one state is taking a particularly strong stance, urging people to avoid the emergency room unless their lives are at risk. On Monday, just under 10,000 people presented to emergency departments in Sydney, which the NSW health minister has described as the "biggest ever recorded winter day in history". Professor Paul Griffin from the University of Queensland School of Medicine told SBS News that while numbers will vary between states, this time of year is often busy nationwide. Across Australia, Griffin said healthcare services were seeing presentations of flu and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), as well as an increase in COVID-19 cases.