However, hospitalisations and ICU admissions are continuing to ease since the Omicron peak in mid-January, with 2068 patients in hospital, 132 of which are in ICU.The statistics are a drop from Monday’s 2099 patients in hospital and 137 in ICU.Tuesday’s numbers include 6810 positive results from rapid antigen tests and 2880 from PCR tests.NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has hinted that restrictions could be lifted at the end of the month.Mr Perrottet on Monday said the state was “on track” to lift mask and working-from-home restrictions come February 28.“We rolled those restrictions over but if I look across the state right now we’re in a very strong position,” he told media on Monday.“I’m confident with where we sit.”While he can’t promise a date, Mr Perrottet said “everything is going well” in the state.’A BIT BUMPY’Victoria has recorded 9785 new cases and 20 Covid deaths in the past 24 hours.There are now 575 infected people in Victorian hospitals, with 72 in intensive care and 30 on ventilators.Victoria’s pre-Omicron peak for Covid hospitalisations was 851 in October when the state was battling a surge in Delta infections.In contrast, there are 2068 people in NSW who are in hospital with Covid.More than 93 per cent of eligible Victorians are fully vaccinated and the state has 58,449 active cases.A total of 19,404 PCR tests were taken on Wednesday and 15,870 vaccines were administered at state hubs. Victoria’s school students and teachers have been told to brace for a “rocky” few weeks with Covid statistics revealing a sharp rise in infections.The state’s education Minister James Merlino conceded schools were bracing for a spike in cases, revealing numbers had risen in the first week of Term 1.On Friday, 964 students and 150 teachers tested positive, while over the weekend a further 607 students reported infections.Mr Merlino said around 0.6 per cent of the school population was testing positive, and expected cases to grow in the next few weeks.“We knew that the first few weeks of school would be a bit bumpy, we knew we’d get some positive cases, but it’s better to support those many hundreds of students and teachers than have one million students at home remote learning,” he said.“We’re delivering 14 million rapid antigen tests to make sure we get to cases early because that will drive down numbers overall.”‘OFF THE PEAK’Queensland has recorded 12 more Covid deaths, taking the state’s toll to 308 throughout the pandemic.Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said people ranging from their 30s to their 90s died as he announced the latest figures on Tuesday.There were 5178 new Covid cases. Of the 12 deaths, one person had received a booster vaccine, three people were unvaccinated and 12 were aged care residents. A total of 663 Covid patients remain in hospital, 42 of them in intensive care.Twenty-two patients are on ventilators.There were 3207 rapid antigen tests recorded in the past 24-hour as the reporting period. Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the state had overcome its Covid infection peak after a case explosion over the past month. “We are coming down off the peak now,” she said on Monday. “All of the data that we have and the modelling that we have seen, it appears that we hit our peak on the fourth of February.”Queenslanders will no longer have to check into venues following the state government’s announcement to scrap the contact tracing app for businesses that are not covered under vaccine mandates.Fewer Queenslanders had been using the check-in app, with health professionals and local councils criticising it as redundant.Businesses such as bars, clubs, and pubs will still use the app to check vaccine status.
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