There are a record number of Canberrans with COVID-19, after the city recorded its second largest daily increase to infections.
The ACT recorded 1701 new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours until 8pm Thursday, and there are now 7781 known active cases. It is the second day in a row the known active cases has set a record, and it is the largest daily increase since the 1860 on January 1.
There were 137 people with COVID-19 in hospital, meaning 1.76 per cent of people in Canberra with the virus are in hospital.
Of those, four patients are in the ICU and three are on ventilation.
Of the new cases, 508 were aged between 25 and 39 years of age.
Thursday's new cases by age group
- 0-4 years: 64
- 5-11 years: 91
- 12-17 years: 91
- 18-24 years: 155
- 25-39 years: 508
- 40-49 years: 308
- 50-64 years: 321
- 65+ years: 163
- Total: 1701
The ACT's COVID-19 death toll remains at 81.
COVID-19 vaccinations
- Aged 5-11 years (1 dose): 80.6 per cent
- Aged 5-11 years (2 doses): 69.1 per cent
- Aged 5+ years (2 doses): 97.4 per cent
- Aged 16+ years (3 doses): 77.4 per cent
Australians as young as 30 will soon receive their fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose, and the federal Health Minister has echoed ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr by claiming the country has "passed the time" for sweeping mask mandates.
But some infectious diseases experts are calling for masks to return as Australia grapples with a COVID-19 surge driven by the highly-infectious Omicron strain.
Health Minister Mark Butler on Thursday confirmed 7.4 million additional Australians will, from next week, be eligible to receive their fourth COVID-19 vaccine doses, now specifically recommended for Australians aged 50 and over by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
Australians aged between 30 and 49 will also be able to receive a fourth dose if they choose to do so, but ATAGI believed there was insufficient evidence to suggest the benefits outweighed the risks among younger cohorts.
Around Australia
Young people have reported a severe drop in life satisfaction during the pandemic, as some feel they missed out on rites of passage, a new study has found.
The Australian National University study led by Professor Nicholas Biddle regularly surveyed more than 3500 respondents from January 2020 to April 2022.
Australians aged 18 to 24 experienced the greatest drop in life satisfaction, falling by 0.5 points from 6.8 in January 2020 to an average of 6.3 on a scale of 0 to 10 in April 2022.
NSW
- Deaths: 7
- New cases: 12,768
- Hospitalisations: 1901
- ICU: 60
Victoria
- Deaths: 9
- New cases: 9769
- Hospitalisations: 629
- ICU: 37
- Ventilation: 4
Queensland
- Deaths: 13
- New cases: 5726
- Hospitalisations: 714
- ICU: 17
Tasmania
- Deaths: 3
- New cases: 1589
- Hospitalisations: 88
- ICU: 3
- Ventilation:
Northern Territory
- Deaths: 0
- New cases: 380
- Hospitalisations: 17
- ICU: 0
Western Australia
- WA no longer publishes daily updates
From Saturday July 2 - Friday July 8
- Deaths: 16
- Active Cases: 32,200
- Hospitalisations: 242
- ICU: 11
South Australia
- SA no longer publishes daily updates
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