Here's a quick wrap of the COVID-19 news and case numbers from each Australian jurisdiction for the past week, as reported on Friday, November 18, 2022.
The states and territories are now reporting their COVID-19 statistics weekly instead of through the daily updates that were provided from the early days of the pandemic.
This story will be updated throughout the day, so if you do not see your state or territory, check back later.
- New South Wales
- Victoria
- Queensland
- Northern Territory
- Australian Capital Territory
- South Australia
- Western Australia
- Tasmania
News you may have missed
- A new COVID-19 vaccine will be available to Australian adults as a third and fourth booster from December 12.
- New South Wales has entered its fourth COVID-19 wave after a sharp spike in new cases, Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has warned.
- China has eased some of its COVID-19 measures, including shortening quarantine times for close contacts of cases and for inbound travellers and scrapping a penalty on airlines that bring in infected passengers.
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New South Wales
The state has recorded 39 more COVID-19 deaths, up from 22 last week.
There are 27,869 new cases, an increase from 19,800 last week.
With 1,148 in hospital, there are 37 people with COVID-19 in intensive care.
Victoria
This week, Victoria recorded 20,398 new cases and 46 deaths, last week there were 16,636 new cases and 41 deaths.
Unlike other states, Victoria records its hospitalisations and intensive care admissions with a seven-day rolling daily average.
The states averaged 352 daily hospitalisations and eight daily intensive care admissions.
Queensland
Queensland has recorded 10,106 new cases this week, up from 5,828.
There have been 15 deaths in the latest reporting period.
As at 16 November, 245 people were in hospital with COVID-19 and five of those were in intensive care.
Northern Territory
COVID-19 cases are down in the Northern Territory from last week, with 286 new cases recorded.
Last week, there were 369 new cases.
There are 12 people hospitalised with COVID-19 in the territory, with no new deaths reported.
Australian Capital Territory
The ACT has recorded 1449 new cases in the latest reporting period.
No deaths were reported this week.
Citing technical issues, the ACT hasn't reported its hospitalisation figures.
South Australia
SA has recorded 8,346 new cases of COVID-19 and three deaths.
There are 118 people in hospital, including seven in ICU.
Western Australia
WA has recorded 15 deaths dating back to August and 9,065 new cases of COVID-19.
There are 179 people in hospital, including three in ICU.
Tasmania
Tasmania has recorded 2,126 new cases of COVID-19 and 25 hospitalisations.
Of those, 11 are being treated specifically for COVID, and two are in ICU.
One thing to know: Queensland scientists find existing drug could lessen COVID severity
Queensland researchers have identified a key cause of severe COVID-19, paving the way for a potential new treatment.
Unlike antiviral treatments, the experimental medication won't attack SARS-CoV-2, but is designed to target the immune system.
Katharina Ronacher, Mater Research biochemist, says studies in mice infected with SARS-CoV-2 found it lessened the severity of the disease.
She says in the studies, the researchers compared animals treated with the drug NIBR189 and others were given a placebo.
Those given the drug had significantly reduced inflammation in the lungs and less viral load.
You can continue reading this story from Janelle Miles here
Something else: Why it's now harder to predict the pandemic's future
Australia is now in the midst of a new COVID-19 wave.
But Nancy Baxter, head of the University of Melbourne's School Of Population And Global Health, says the waves of COVID aren't happening in the same way in every place.
"It's not like it was before when you would have Delta in India, then the UK, and you could see it passing through the world and eventually it would come to Australia."
There are more variants around now, as well as different levels of immunity in other countries based on vaccine coverage and previous COVID-19 infections.
This means COVID-19 waves are now "coming through in different ways in different places", Professor Baxter said.
ICYMI: Violent COVID lockdown protests in Guangzhou, China
Crowds of people in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou crashed through COVID barriers and marched down streets in chaotic scenes this week, according to videos posted online, in a show of public resentment over coronavirus curbs.
Among the latest outbreaks in China, Guangzhou's is the largest, with new daily infections of COVID-19 topping 5,000 for the first time and fuelling speculation that localised lockdowns could widen.
Videos widely shared on Twitter showed noisy scenes in Guangzhou's Haizhu district of people charging down streets and remonstrating with white hazmat-suit-clad workers.
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