Get up to speed on all the coronavirus news from across Australia.
Follow along for all of Wednesday's live updates.
Key events
- WA: 14 new local COVID-19 cases
- SA records two COVID deaths
- NT announces 1,160 new COVID cases
- ACT records one death, 475 new COVID cases
- Queensland records 24 COVID deaths, 6,902 new cases
- Tasmania records 2 new COVID related deaths, 574 new cases
- Victoria records 21 deaths, 9,908 new COVID cases
- NSW records 20 deaths, 10,312 new COVID cases
Live updates
By Jessica Riga
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: 20 deaths, 10,312 new cases, 1,906 people in hospital, 132 in ICU, 61 ventilated
VIC: 21 deaths, 9,908 new cases, 542 in hospital, 71 in ICU, 27 ventilated
QLD: 24 deaths, 6,902 new cases, 628 people in hospital, 44 in ICU, 22 ventilated
TAS: Two deaths, 574 new cases, 15 people in hospital, one in ICU
ACT: One death, 475 new cases, 54 people in hospital, one in ICU requiring ventilation
NT: 1,160 new cases, 174 people in hospital, 4 in ICU
SA: Two deaths, 1,671 new cases; 210 people in hospital, 18 in ICU, 3 ventilated
WA: 14 new local cases, 80 travel-related cases; one person in hospital
By Kate Ainsworth
That's it for the blog today
It's been a short but sweet afternoon with you but don't worry, the blog will return tomorrow.
Until then you can keep up to date with the latest news on the ABC News website.
By Kate Ainsworth
WA border reviewed 'daily'
Health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said WA's border settings "are reviewed every single day".
"We don't just set a date and put it in place and leave it, these discussions are ongoing with the latest information that we have every day," she said.
But Ms Sanderson said she expects WA will reach a point where the border is no longer viable as more COVID cases are recorded.
"I think there will come a point where the hard border isn't providing protection because there's seeding in the community," she said.
"I can't tell you when that point will be."
By Kate Ainsworth
'We are seeing more and more cases from domestic travellers'
With 67 travel-related cases in WA today coming from interstate travellers, health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said it justifies the state's current border position.
"Had we not made the decision to update our safe transition plan, these people would be in our community and our cases would grow rapidly," Ms Sanderson said.
She said the state is also preparing for case numbers to grow.
"We think there is more community transmission out there than is being recorded," she said.
"Any day now we are expecting a very steep spike."
By Kate Ainsworth
Rapid tests to be provided to travellers arriving in WA
From today WA health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson says all domestic and international travellers will receive two RATs on arriving into the state to use on day 1 and day 7 of their quarantine.
Ms Sanderson says the decision was made to help ease the pressure on the state's PCR testing clinics, but travellers will be able to get a PCR test within the first 24 hours of arriving into the state.
By Kate Ainsworth
WA: 14 new local COVID-19 cases
Western Australia's Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson says 11 of the new local cases were potentially infectious while in the community and three are under investigation by contact tracers.
All of the 14 local cases are now in quarantine.
The state has also recorded 80 travel-related cases overnight, with 13 from overseas and 67 from interstate.
Ms Sanderson says there are now 332 active cases of COVID-19 in WA, with one person in hospital.
By Kate Ainsworth
Live: WA COVID-19 update
We're standing by for an update from WA Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson and Police Commissioner Chris Dawson.
You can tune in below:
By Kate Ainsworth
Any update from WA today?
-Katie
We're expecting a press conference from WA in about 10 minutes — I'll share a live stream link as soon as I have it.
By Kate Ainsworth
SA records two COVID deaths
South Australia has recorded two COVID-related deaths, a woman in her 60s and a man in his 90s.
There are 210 people in hospital, including 18 in intensive care and three on ventilators.
SA recorded 1,671 new cases today.
By Kate Ainsworth
Good afternoon
Hello! I'm Kate Ainsworth and I'll be taking you everything you need to know about COVID for the rest of the day.
By Jessica Riga
That's it from me
But the blog isn't going anywhere! The wonderful Kate will be taking over from here.
By Jessica Riga
Omicron continues to be the dominant strain in Victoria
Is there no Victorian Press Conference today?
-Sharna
There was no dedicated COVID-19 press conference in Victoria today.
The state recorded another 21 COVID-19 deaths, and 9,908 new infections.
In its daily update, the Victorian Department of Health says recent genomic testing results from around 500 community samples taken from positive COVID-19 cases over the past fortnight have again confirmed the Omicron variant continues to be the dominant strain in Victoria, with 97.8 per cent of samples representing the Omicron variant.
This new data highlights the almost complete strain replacement of Omicron over Delta that has taken place in Victoria over the past two months.
Analysis of this and other recently collected genomic data shows that over the past month, the proportion of COVID-19 cases in hospital ICU beds with Omicron has increased to more than 90 per cent.
By Jessica Riga
NT announces 1,160 new COVID cases
There are now 174 people with COVID-19 in hospital in the Northern Territory, down from 178 on Tuesday, with four people in intensive care.
Twenty-eight patients are requiring oxygen.
The Northern Territory government announced 1,160 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, including 32 added to Tuesday's tally.
Of these, 1,024 were positive cases from rapid antigen tests.
There were 645 cases recorded in the Top End Region, 218 in Central Australia, 94 in the East Arnhem region, 68 in the Big Rivers region, 32 in the Barkly region and 71 are under investigation.
The number of active cases in the NT is about 7,460.
Aboriginal health groups have continued to express serious concerns over the Northern Territory's COVID-19 hospitalisation rates, which are the highest in the nation.
By Jessica Riga
Australian childcare 'in crisis', as new figures show more than one in 10 need special waiver to legally operate
Australia's childcare sector is emerging from the Omicron wave in "crisis", with more than one in 10 centres needing a government waiver to legally operate because they do not have enough workers.
By Jessica Riga
The impact of Australia's closed borders: These four graphs tell the story
By Jessica Riga
Live: Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins at the National Press Club
If you're reading along with one live blog, why not make it two?
Scott Morrison apologised to Brittany Higgins in Parliament yesterday. Today, she and the former Australian of the Year are speaking now live in Canberra. Follow all the updates in our live blog here.
By Jessica Riga
ACT records one death, 475 new COVID cases
A man in his 90s has died with COVID-19, and the ACT has recorded 475 new cases of the virus.
Health authorities did not reveal the vaccination status of the man who died or specify if he had underlying health conditions.
There are 54 people in hospital with the virus in Canberra. One of those patients is in intensive care, requiring ventilation.
A total of 57.2 per cent of Canberrans aged 18 and older have received their booster and 74.5 per cent of children aged five to 11 have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Of the new cases, 281 were from PCR tests and 194 from rapid antigen tests.
By Jessica Riga
'Let it rip': Have COVID-19 policies impacted your work or business? We'd like to hear from you
Have government policies around COVID-19 and reopening Australia — particularly during the latest Omicron wave — impacted your business, for better or for worse?
Have you noticed changes at home or in your community as a result? Do you work in a sector or live in a region you don't often read about in the news?
Will any of the policies — or opposition's proposals — over the last two years have an impact on how you might vote in this year's election?
If you answered yes to any of the above, we'd like to hear from you via the form on this page here.
By Jessica Riga
By Jessica Riga
534 Queensland children return positive PCR tests in latest reporting period
Ms D'Ath said 534 children between the ages of five and 17 years have tested positive on PCR tests alone in the latest reporting period.
"We don't envisage that this jump overnight is directly related to school yet because it's very, very early days, and these are PCR results, but we'll continue to report them," she said.
Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said all of the cases in children were "very, very mild".
"We will expect ongoing cases within schools in the coming weeks," Dr Gerrard said.
"We've been looking at the data of infections in children between the ages of five to 17 and there was actually quite substantial transmission … three weeks ago."
