Students and teachers in NSW and Victoria will have access to weekly rapid antigen tests, with those states planning to do away with school closures when classes resume.
Look back on the news and updates on our live coronavirus blog from Sunday, January 23, 2022 — as it happened.
Key events
- Labor describes moves by the EU and US to restrict travel to Australia as concerning but not surprising
- NT records 212 new COVID-19 cases
- Daniel Andrews believes three vaccines will soon be mandatory to be considered fully vaccinated
- ACT records 694 new cases of COVID-19
- Queensland records 10 new deaths
- New Zealand puts COVID restrictions on 'red light' setting
- Tasmania reports 625 new COVID cases
- South Australia records no deaths, further drop in cases
- 'We will expect to see cases among children and staff attending schools': Kerry Chant
- NSW to provide two RATs to each child per week
- NSW records 34 new deaths, over 20,000 new cases
- Victoria records 14 new deaths, over 1,000 in hospital
Live updates
By Dan Nancarrow
Cases, hospitalisations and deaths
If you don't see your state or territory yet, don't worry - these numbers are updated throughout the day.
For a detailed breakdown of cases across the country, check out Charting the Spread.
NSW: 34 deaths and 20,324 cases; 2,712 people in hospital, including 189 in ICUs. Read more here. Rewatch the press conference here.
ACT: No deaths, 694 new cases; 67 people in hospital, including 3 in ICUs.
Victoria: 14 deaths and 13,091 cases; 1,002 people in hospital, including 120 in ICUs. Read more here. Rewatch the press conference here.
Tasmania: No deaths and 625 new cases; 39 people in hospital, including 3 in ICUs. Read more here.
Queensland: 10 deaths and 11,947 cases; 863 people in hospital, including 47 in ICUs. Read more here.
South Australia: No deaths, 2,062 new cases; 278 people in hospital, 24 in ICUs. Read more here.
Northern Territory: No deaths, 212 new cases; 61 people in hospital, 2 in ICU. Read more here.
Western Australia: No deaths, 26 new cases; zero people in hospital. Read more here.
By Dan Nancarrow
That's all folks
That's it for the blog today. Thank you for following along. Keep an eye on our dedicated Coronavirus section for further updates on the pandemic.
By Dan Nancarrow
All new WA cases linked
Health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said there was some good news despite the jump in case numbers.
"Although 24 is a higher case number than we are used to here in WA, the good news is they are all currently linked to existing cases," she said.
By Dan Nancarrow
Patients not triaged correctly
Health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said a suspected known COVID-positive woman and her COVID-positive child attended Fiona Stanley Hospital and were not triaged correctly.
Both spent time in the emergency department.
Ms Sanderson also pleaded with people in the state to get tested.
By Dan Nancarrow
WA records 24 new local cases of COVID-19
The state has recorded 26 cases in total.
Health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said all are linked to known cases and all are now in quarantine.
There is still no one hospitalised with COVID in WA.
By Simon Smale
Handover time
Right, I'm about to duck off, but Dan Nancarrow will take you through for the next little while, at least until we get the WA numbers.
See you tomorrow.
By Simon Smale
Keeping children at home is 'no longer an option'. Here's how Victoria plans to bring them back to schools
Students and staff will be given free RATs to self-test as part of the government's four-week back-to-school strategy.
Read how it's all going to take shape in Judd Boaz's explainer.
By Simon Smale
Any news on WA?
-A waiting person
Not yet, but you'd have to expect it fairly imminently.
By Simon Smale
'Could have gone very badly': At-risk Aboriginal community defies COVID outbreak as peak passes
When the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the Aboriginal community of Cherbourg last month, authorities feared the worst for the vulnerable and low-vaccinated community, but residents seem to be defying the odds.
Almost a month later, Cherbourg, 250 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, has seen just two people hospitalised and both have since recovered. The daily case numbers in the town are also already slowing.
By Simon Smale
Twice-weekly RAT tests in Victoria for students 'strongly recommended'
are double RAT tests mandatory for vic school or just recommended
-random student
Hi, random student.
The press release earlier said the twice-weekly rapid antigen tests will be "strongly recommended".
By Simon Smale
Doctors urge SA government to ease elective surgery freeze as private hospitals sit 'idle'
Surgeons say private hospitals in South Australia have the staff, operating theatres and beds to enable more elective surgeries.
By Simon Smale
When can under 17s be boosted?
I’ve just tried to book a booster appointment for my teenager children who had their vaccinations over 3 months ago only to find out that boosters are only for 18 years and older. With schools about to open I’m shocked that we can’t protect our kids and the teachers and staff better.
-Corncerned Parent
Hi, Concerned Parent
You're right, at the moment, ATAGI is not recommending booster doses for people aged under 18.
When and if that advice changes, we will of course let you know.
When can my daughter (aged 17) get her COVID booster? She has a disability and is with the NDIS.
-Simone
Hi Simone,
Without knowing your daughters exact circumstances, that is a question that you would need to ask your doctor.
By Simon Smale
Three household COVID outbreaks, three different results: Why some exposed people don't catch Omicron
An effective pandemic response requires clear rules and thresholds that tell us how to judge COVID-19 risk. But that does not mean the virus always follows the script.
By Simon Smale
Labor describes moves by the EU and US to restrict travel to Australia as concerning but not surprising
Federal Labor has described moves by the European Union and United States to restrict travel to Australia as concerning, but not surprising.
As coronavirus cases in Australia continue to soar, the European Council has recommended EU member states continue to impose COVID restrictions on Australian travellers.
The directive applies regardless of vaccination status, and means that anyone wanting to travel from Australia to Europe for non-essential purposes could be banned from entry or have to quarantine on arrival.
The United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has also issued a warning to avoid travel to Australia, saying "because of the current situation in Australia, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants."
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese says it's deeply troubling.
"This is a real concern, but it's not surprising given our infection rates are so high," he said.
"Our infection rates are so high because there wasn't the preparedness. One of the reasons why the rollout of the booster is so low compared with European countries is because the rollout of the original vaccine was so low."
But Government frontbencher Paul Fletcher has shrugged off the moves.
"Those are matters for the authorities in other countries - the advice they give to their own citizens," he said.
"The task and responsibility of the Australian government is doing everything we can to keep Australians safe and of course that has been an enormous focus of effort."
Reporting by Stephanie Dalzell.
By Simon Smale
If there is a positive case in a classroom in Victoria, do all the kids then have to isolate for 7 days or just return a negative RAT?
-Parent
Hi Parent.
James Merlino outlined this in his press conference earlier.
"If a child is positive, the requirement on the parent or the carer is to notify public health, and also to notify the child's school or kindergarten or childcare centre, and the school will contact other parents and say, 'there has been a positive case, look out for symptoms'.
"That is how we approach any communicable disease."
He said being in a school with a positive case is not grounds for being a close contact.
"The school would identify all the close contacts of the child, the class, other activities that child might have been undertaking and engaging with students and staff, then contacting them.
"The approach is broader, given the change in settings are statewide, the definition of primary close contact is now household or household like, so for those reasons, the best approach, supported by public health, is that schools, early childhood settings, deal with this issue as they would with any other communicable disease, that is notifying parents, looking out the symptoms."
By Simon Smale
COVID news from our region
Just a quick sweep of news around our local area in relation to COVID-19.
Samoa, Kiribati record cases
Until this month, Kiribati hadn't reported a single virus case, while Samoa had only recorded two since the pandemic began, according to the World Health Organization.
But authorities in both countries were forced to put in place stay-at-home orders on Saturday after the virus was detected in international arrivals.
Hong Kong warns of worsening COVID-19 outbreak
Ms Lam said on Saturday that a second Kwai Chung apartment block, home to more than 2,000 people, would be shut down for five days.
On Friday, officials shut down another Kwai Chung building after more than 20 cases were linked to it, with food delivered from outside three times a day and mass testing underway.
In total, some 16 buildings in the area would face various restrictions and compulsory testing, affecting some 35,000 residents, Ms Lam added.
Tonga aid
Aid from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and China is beginning to arrive in Tonga and it's all being delivered contactless to keep COVID at bay.
The island nation has largely kept COVID under control throughout the pandemic.
UN officials in Tonga claim the country will be heavily reliant on food aid for some time following last weekend's volcanic eruption and tsunami.
By Simon Smale
NT records 212 new COVID-19 cases
There are currently 61 patients in Northern Territory hospitals with COVID-19, with nine patients requiring oxygen.
There are two patients in intensive care.
There were 212 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the NT in the 24 hours to 8pm.
Several remote communities in the Northern Territory are under restrictions.
Utopia and Ski Beach are in a seven day lockdown, while Galiwin'ku's lockdown was yesterday extended for another seven days.
Lockouts in Alice Springs, Amoonguna, Yuendumu and Yuelamu were also extended for seven days.
By Simon Smale
Pfizer boss hopes for annual COVID vaccine rather than frequent boosters
The chief executive of Pfizer says the global pharmaceutical giant is working on a yearly vaccine dose as Omicron forces tweaks to vaccines.
The company is developing a dose similar to a yearly flu shot that would replace the need for periodic booster jabs.
In an interview with Israel's N12 News, Albert Bourla said the shot could work against all strains of the coronavirus.
"We are hoping that we will have a vaccine that we will have to do once a year, like we do for many other things.
"We are looking to see if we can create a vaccine for Omicron and doesn't forget the other variants and that
could be a solution, unless if something completely different."
He also said getting boosted every four or five months would "not be a good scenario".
By Simon Smale
Jacinda Ardern cancels wedding as New Zealand goes into higher COVID restrictions
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also had to cancel her wedding to Clarke Gayford as a result of the increased restrictions in New Zealand announced today.
New Zealand will raise its level of COVID restrictions from midnight tonight after nine cases of the Omicron variant were found to have spread from the North to South islands.
The red-light setting is not considered a lockdown and businesses remain open, but gathering numbers are reduced and the rules on social distancing increased.
That means no large gatherings, including one of the more high-profile weddings scheduled for this coming year.
“My wedding will not be going ahead, but I just join many other New Zealanders who have had an experience like that as a result of the pandemic," Ms Ardern said at the press conference earlier.
“And to anyone who’s caught up in that scenario, I’m so sorry, but we’re all so resilient and I know we understand that we’re doing this for one another.”
“I am no different to ... thousands of other New Zealanders who have had much more devastating impacts felt by the pandemic.”
By Simon Smale
