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, January 13, 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.
You can jump to the COVID-19 information you want to read by clicking below.
- New South Wales
- Victoria
- Northern Territory
- Australian Capital Territory
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Western Australia
News you may have missed
- British MP Andrew Bridgen has been expelled from the ruling Conservative party for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, following a comparison to the Holocaust. Read the full story here.
- China has suspended or closed the social media accounts of more than 1,000 critics of the government's policies on the COVID-19 outbreak, as the country moves to roll back harsh anti-virus restrictions. Read the full story here.
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New South Wales
There have been 14,053 new cases recorded, down from 19,793 last week.
NSW has recorded 112 deaths, although not all COVID fatalities occurred during the reporting period.
There are 1,458 people in hospital, 41 of those are in intensive care.
Victoria
In Victoria, there are 7,908 new cases, last week there were 12,349.
There have been 149 deaths reported, but with a delay on reporting deaths, not all fatalities occurred in the past week.
The state has 473 people hospitalised with COVID-19, 18 of those are in intensive care.
Northern Territory
There have been 355 new cases recorded in the latest reporting period.
There are 23 people in hospital with COVID-19.
No deaths have been reported this week.
Australian Capital Territory
ACT has recorded 1,012 cases this week, down from 1,436 last week.
There are 56 active cases in hospital.
Six deaths have been reported in the latest period.
Queensland
Queensland has recorded 8,635 new cases in the last week.
There have been 73 deaths, but not all COVID fatalities occurred during the reporting period.
There are 468 cases in hospital.
South Australia
There have been 3,261 new cases recorded this week.
South Australia has 128 people hospitalised with COVID-19. Six of those are in intensive care.
There have been 38 deaths recorded in this reporting period.
Tasmania
Tasmania has recorded eight deaths and 1,230 new cases.
There are 37 patients in hospital statewide, including 18 being treated specifically for COVID.
Western Australia
WA has recorded 5,618 cases of COVID and 23 deaths, dating back to December 10, 2022.
There are 228 people with COVID-19 in hospital, including 15 in ICU.
One thing to know: WHO recommends masks for long-haul flights
Countries have been urged to recommend masks on long-haul flights as the latest COVID-19 subvariant continues to spread rapidly in the United States, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant has so far been detected in more than 25 countries, including eight cases in Australia.
Labelled by the WHO as the most transmissible Omicron subvariant so far, XBB.1.5 accounted for 27.6 per cent of new COVID-19 cases in the US last week, according to health officials.
Passengers should be advised to wear masks in high-risk settings such as long-haul flights, says the WHO's senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood.
Could China's COVID-19 outbreak lead to the next variant of concern?
To put it simply, COVID-19 is going to keep changing no matter where it's circulating — that's what viruses do.
Infected cells in the body produce billions of copies of the virus, and sometimes that process goes wrong and produces a mutation.
"You always have mutations building up over time. That holds true for China, just like it holds true for the rest of the world," says clinical virologist Siddharth Sridhar, from the University of Hong Kong.
With a population of 1.4 billion — nearly 20 per cent of the entire globe — China provides a lot of opportunities for transmission and mutation.
One more thing: COVID-19 policy U-turn leaves workers in China's massive testing industry in the lurch
Like many others, Fei Liu found work last year in the huge new industry supporting China's fight to suppress COVID-19.
Putting together rapid antigen testing kits on a production line for biomedical company Zybio was Ms Liu's first job after finishing her degree in pharmacy last year.
But with Beijing abandoning its COVID-zero policy, those jobs are rapidly disappearing.
Hundreds of workers in the factory in south-western China's Chongqing province where Ms Liu worked protested and clashed with police on Saturday morning after being told their labour was no longer needed.
