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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Hannah Neale

New ACT COVID-19 infections fall over public holiday

Deltacron Omicron XE

Daily COVID infections in the ACT have fallen over the Good Friday public holiday.

The ACT reported 856 new infections to 8pm on Friday. This takes the territory's pandemic case tally to 92,330.

New infection numbers were not released on Friday due to the public holiday. ACT Health has also flagged it will not update case numbers on Sunday.

There were 60 people in Canberra hospitals with COVID in the 24 hours to 8pm Friday, including two people in intensive care and one under ventilation.

The tally for COVID-19 related deaths in the capital remains at 47.

The ACT now has 5565 active cases of coronavirus. Of the new cases, 468 were reported through PCR tests and 388 via rapid tests.

ACT Health has released the following age breakdown:

  • 0-4: 48 (6%)
  • 5-11: 49 (6%)
  • 12-17: 72 (8%)
  • 18-24: 87 (10%)
  • 25-39: 236 (28%)
  • 40-49: 138 (16%)
  • 50-64: 140 (16%)
  • 65+: 86 (10%)

Latest vaccination rates 

The first dose vaccination rate for children aged five to 11 is at 80.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, fully vaccinated people aged over five make up 96.6 per cent of the ACT population. The percentages have decreased from 98.7 per cent due to a revision in ACT Health's population estimate. The proportion of people triple vaxxed rose to 74.5 per cent.

BA.2 Omicron rate drops

According to an ACT Health report released for the week ending April 4, Belconnen followed by Gungahlin and Tuggeranong continue to have the highest number of COVID cases.

Hospitalisations increased for the period with 39 new admissions, compared to 30 the previous week. There were two new admissions to intensive care. Hospitalisation rates continue to he highest in people over 65 despite having the lowest rate of infection.

Meanwhile, the number of sequenced cases identified as the BA.2 Omicron variant has dropped to 83 per cent compared to 88 per cent the previous week.

New Omicron BA variant arrives in Australia

Victorian authorities are monitoring a new BA.4 or BA.5 Omicron variant after samples were confirmed in for the first time in Australia.

The sub-variant has been recently detected in a small number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Denmark, the UK and Germany.

The World Health Organisation says there are currently no known significant epidemiological differences between the new Omicron strain and the more dominant BA.2 strain.

Meanwhile, the first cases of the 'Deltacron' were reported on Friday by NSW Health.

Known as a recombinant variant, it is one of two concerning strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus currently spreading across the world.

Around Australia

NSW has reported 13,601 new COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday. Across the state there are 1491 people with the infection in hospital and 72 in ICU.

Victoria has reported 9559 cases in the previous period and eight deaths. There were 403 people in hospital and 21 in ICU.

The Northern Territory has reported no deaths and 391 new infections. There were 28 in hospital across the territory and none in ICU.

Tasmania has 1334 cases and no deaths with 48 people in hospital and one in the ICU.

Our coverage of the health and safety aspects of this outbreak of COVID-19 in the ACT is free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. You can also sign up for our newsletters for regular updates.

Cars at the Mitchell COVID-19 drive through testing site. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos
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