It is the highest number of deaths recorded in a single day of the pandemic across Australia. NSW Health confirmed the state had 13,354 new infections on Saturday, with 7,928 cases recorded from PCR tests and 5,426 from rapid antigen tests.A further 2693 people are in hospital, with 186 being treated in intensive care units. It came as new modelling suggests next week could be the circuit breaker hospitals are hoping for, with admissions set to drop across the state. Premier Dominic Perrottet said the trends in the latest modelling were “positive”. On Friday, NSW Health deputy secretary Susan Pearce the decline was coming. “They might not follow a lovely curve, and it may be a bit lumpy but we do expect that in the coming week we will start to see some declines,” she said.12,000-PLUS NEW CASES IN VCVictoria has recorded 12,250 new cases and 31 Covid deaths in the past 24 hours.There are currently 953 patients in Victorian hospitals being treated with the virus. Of those in hospital, 114 people are being treated in intensive care, with 39 people on ventilators. The state has reported 12,250 new COVID-19 infections, reported from 6,244 PCR tests and 6,006 rapid antigen tests.Saturday’s figures bring the total number of active cases in the state to 79,836. It’s a major drop in the number of active cases reported on Friday, a decrease of more than 20,000 cases. More than 37 per cent of Victorians aged over 18 have received a Covid-19 vaccine booster, with 22,139 doses administered at state hubs on Friday.While experts believe Victoria is beginning to pass the peak of the Omicron wave, it’s expected cases will rise when students and teachers return to the classroom on Monday. But authorities are hopeful it will not see numbers surge back to the mid-January peak. A walk up vaccination blitz will occur across the weekend, in an effort to get more young children aged 5-11 vaccinated before their first day at school. As of Friday, around 38 per cent of the five-to-11-year-old cohort have now had a first dose of the vaccine. Victoria’s latest casesCOVID-19 BOOSTER SHOTS APPROVED FOR TEENSTeenagers as young as sixteen could soon be eligible for the Covid booster after the nation’s drug regulator gave the Pfizer vaccine the green light.This means teens in this age group no longer need to wait until they turn 18 until they can recharge their immunity with an extra jab.In a statement on Friday, the Therapeutic Goods Administration said the Pfizer jab had been provisionally approved in teens aged 16 to 17 years old.“This decision follows the provisional approval granted by the TGA to Pfizer for the use of COMIRNATY as a booster in individuals 18 years and older on 26 October 2021. Booster doses of COMIRNATY in this age group have been approved for use in the US, Israel and the UK,” it said.Australia has joined the United States, United Kingdom and Israel in boosting teens.SA RECORDS 1846 CASES, 5 DEATHSRestrictions in South Australia are set to ease as the state’s daily Covid-19 cases continue to decrease each day. Premier Steven Marshall addressed the media after the state’s Covid-ready committee meeting on Friday. He announced hospitality venues would be able to operate at 50 per cent capacity with indoor seated dining and drinking as of 12.01am on Saturday morning — an increase from the one per four sqm density rule that’s in place. Elective surgery for children will also be permitted and can be scheduled from next week. It was also announced that QR code check-ins will no longer be required in retail settings but will still remain for hospitality venues and high risk settings, like aged care centres. “We can’t just let it rip but we can gradually increase the number of people moving around,” Mr Marshall said. “The hospitality sector has been doing extraordinarily tough … It is safe to go back to hospitality (venues).” The premier said the further easing of restrictions would be discussed in future meetings with the fitness sector next to be considered.Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the state may be seen as “conservative” with its level of restrictions but said SA’s management of the virus spoke for itself. “We are taking considered steps towards getting back to normal as quickly as possible and as safely as possible,” he said. “The goal is not to create a second wave.”It comes as the state recorded 1846 new Covid-19 cases and five deaths over the past 24 hours. The total number of active cases continue to fall, now at 24,612. It was only yesterday the premier said authorities had “concerns” about the level of restrictions on the hospitality industry and believed it would be the first sector to have density requirements relaxed.Workers were also encouraged to start returning to the office at 25 per cent capacity on Thursday as the premier relaxed the work from home advice. About a month ago, residents were told to work from home where possible to limit the spread of Omicron.“It is crippling on small businesses having those density requirements in place so that will be our highest priority,” Mr Marshall said yesterday.“(But) we don’t want a significant second wave.”On Thursday, 1953 new cases and 13 deaths were reported. ‘BREAKING POINT’: PM URGED TO ACTPharmacists are calling on Scott Morrison to urgently provide them with more rapid tests and personal protective equipment, warning they are at “breaking point”. More than six million Australians are now eligible to receive 10 free rapid antigen tests over a three-month period, but supply shortages have caused chaos across the country. The government’s handling of the situation has been branded as “reckless and negligent” by Professionals Pharmacists Australia.“The federal government’s announcement that RATs would be freely available for six million pensioners and concession cardholders, without providing adequate logistical support to ensure pharmacies had access to these tests, was reckless and negligent,” chief executive Geoff March said.The frustration is also felt by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, who have warned some pharmacies are taking a loss due to the scheme. “If the government wants to improve accessibility they can improve the time frame they reimburse pharmacies. At the moment the government won’t be making the first payments until the end of February,” President Trent Twomey told the Guardian. “Many small pharmacies can’t afford to wait this long.”The tests cost $17.50, but the government’s reimbursement sits at $10. As the children vaccination program ramps up, the pharmacy guild has also warned about a critical shortage of PPE for pharmacists. “Yet again the federal government has failed to adequately plan and organise the supply of essential equipment to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid-19,” Dr March said. “Pharmacists are working hard to roll out vaccination boosters and children’s vaccination before the return to school but can’t do their jobs properly and safely without access to adequate PPE.”QUEENSLAND STILL TO HIT ITS OMICRON PEAKThe coronavirus continues to surge across Queensland, with 9974 new cases and 18 fatalities reported on Friday. Of the 18 deaths one was in their thirties, four in their sixties, four in their seventies, seven in their eighties and two in their nineties. The number of patients presenting to southeast public hospitals is showing signs of stabilising as the state records 818 hospitalisations, down from Thursdays total of 829.54 people are currently in intensive care. Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said Authorities on Thursday had flagged hospital admissions were showing signs of flattening in Brisbane, Ipswich, and Logan, while the Gold Coast was already witnessing a decline after the Omicron wave passed its supposed peak this week. That said, health Minister Yvette D’Ath warned case numbers were yet to peak across greater Brisbane, on the Sunshine Coast, and in Townsville. The latest daily case figures were down from the 11,600 new infections reported 24 hours ago, a plateau that reflects the tail end of the peak. The new deaths reported on Friday were in aged care.JOYCE SORRY FOR SAYING ‘PEOPLE AREN’T DYING’Barnaby Joyce has apologised after saying “people aren’t dying” from Covid-19 Australia.During a radio interview on ABC RN on Monday morning, the Nationals leader was asked if Australia can “really say that we are the envy of the world” after the EU and US warned its citizens against travelling here.Mr Joyce replied: “Well, people aren’t dying”.Host Patricia Karvelas responded: “People are dying. People are dying every day.”Mr Joyce was quick to correct himself: “Sorry, sorry sorry. Yes, you are correct, I shouldn’t have said that. But the number in which – the fatality rate is very low. Obviously, that is a tragic thing for anybody … (to die) for any reason – for catching the flu. But the fatality rate of Omicron is remarkably low and Australia has done a remarkable job.”VIC, NSW SCHOOLS PLAN REVEALEDVictorian students and staff will be asked to test themselves twice a week, and teachers will be required to get their third dose, in order to keep case numbers under control in schools.As part of the plan to keep students in classrooms from “day one, term one”, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said testing and air-purifiers would be crucial to keeping schools open and students on campus.The state government will also call on inactive or retired teachers to rejoin the system to combat staff shortages.Mr Andrews said it was inevitable there would be a surge in Covid-19 cases, but insisted reopening schools was a priority.Victoria and NSW authorities have worked closely together to get students back in school from January 31.Both states will require students and teachers to use rapid antigen tests at home twice weekly.The federal government will split the cost with states opting to test students and teachers.Fourteen million tests will be delivered to schools and early childhood centres over the coming weeks – 6.6 million of which will be delivered in time for the first week.A key plank of the NSW plan will be the use of rapid antigen tests for students and staff, to be taken twice a week.Up to six million tests are being sent to 3000 public, Catholic and independent schools across NSW ahead of the start of term.Once the tests are delivered to schools by Wednesday, parents will be able to arrange a time to pick up the kits once they are contacted by school staff.Education Minister Sarah Mitchell on Sunday revealed schools would no longer be closed once a positive case was identified, and contact-tracing would not be completed.“If you are testing negative that’s great, come to school, but if you happen to get a positive test you need to let your principal know that you have tested positive to Covid,” Ms Mitchell said.NED-5151-Covid-19-booster-shots-graphic“You also need to let NSW Health know through the Services NSW app but we will no longer be closing schools when there is a positive Covid case in that community and we will not be conducting contact tracing anymore.”“We are really moving schools in line with what we see in community settings, but parents and carers and family members will be notified if there is Covid in your school community.”Schools will be required to carry out an improved cleaning regimen, while limited visitors will be allowed on school grounds.Face masks will be made mandatory for all teachers and high school students, but not primary school children.Air purifiers are being installed in “problem areas” and windows in older buildings are being repaired to ensure they can be opened and allow appropriate airflow.School staff will have to be double-vaccinated, while music, school sport and assemblies have all been given the green-light to go ahead.Overnight camps are also allowed with “risk planning” and parental consent.The premier said he highly recommended students in Year 3 and above wear masks and said visits would be limited to schools to ensure the Covid-safe plans could be undertaken.“We are incredibly confident that while there will be disruption, as we move through this period of time and as we know through this wave of the latest outbreak of Covid, there will be challenges that come our way,” Mr Dominic Perrottet said.“We need to make sure that we have kids back in the classroom in a safe way, and I think the work that has occurred right here in our state with the Department of Education, it has been a significant effort.”
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