On Saturday, Victoria recorded 1365 new Covid-19 cases and nine deaths, with more than 91 per cent of the state fully vaccinated.Yesterday, there were 1188 new cases of community transmission and 11 people lost their lives.NSW has recorded 325 cases of Covid-19 and one more death.The daily figures remain relatively stable despite concerns over a new variant.There are 139 people in hospital with Covid-19 across NSW, including 25 patients in intensive care.There were 337 new cases recorded on Friday and one of them, a student at Regents Park Christian School in western Sydney, was found to have the Omicron strain.NT RECORDS FIRST COVID-RELATED DEATHThe Northern Territory has recorded its first Covid-related death since the pandemic began. A woman in her 70s from the Binjari Indigenous community near Katherine died at the Royal Darwin Hospital on Thursday night.The Indigenous woman had been in the RDH for the last couple of weeks. She was unvaccinated. It is the first Covid-related death in the Territory since the pandemic began, and the first death associated with the Darwin-Katherine-Robinson River cluster.The outbreak has become the Territory’s largest, with 60 confirmed cases as of Thursday.NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner took to social media to express his sympathies to the Binjari community.“The staff of RDH did all they could to care for her, and I know they are also feeling it right now,” he said.“I extend my thanks and sympathy to them as well. “Unfortunately her condition deteriorated rapidly yesterday.”Mr Gunner said the tragic death was a reminder of the severity of Covid-19 and urged Territorians to get vaccinated against the virusVICTORIA RECORDS 11 MORE Covid DEATHSVictoria recorded 1188 new Covid-19 cases and 11 more deaths on Friday as health authorities warn the Omicron variant “of concern” could have already leaked into the state.There are 289 infected Victorians in hospital, with 43 in intensive care and 22 on a ventilator.More than 91 per cent of eligible Victorians are now fully vaccinated.Health Minister Martin Foley said while the new variant had not yet been found in the state, he flagged there was a high possibility it was already here.“We would’‘t be surprised, given the arrangements that we’ve seen in NSW and around the globe, that it might well be ticking along out there at the moment, but there’s been no cases reported so far,” he said on Thursday.Premier Daniel Andrews said he believed a third dose of the vaccine would be critical in fighting new variants.He said despite the rise in new cases, there were less hospital admissions.“We’re still doing that work to firm up our view that while this is much more transmissible, it’s much more infectious, it moves more quickly, it is presenting relatively mildly,” Mr Andrews said.“Given the speed at which it moves, it may well replace the Delta variant, and if it does produce more mild disease, then that’s not a bad thing.“We just have to have all of that confirmed.”NSW RECORDS 337 NEW Covid CASESNSW has recorded 337 new cases of Covid-19 and no new deaths after an eighth traveller was found to have the Omicron variant.There are now 140 people in hospital, including 25 in intensive care.Of the population aged 16 and over, 94.6 per cent have had one dose of the vaccine, while 92.6 are fully vaccinated.There were 80,930 tests on Thursday.It comes as NSW Health confirmed another traveller tested positive to the Omicron strain of the virus, becoming the eighth person in NSW.The person arrived on flight SQ231 from Singapore to Sydney on Sunday, November 28, and is fully vaccinated.They had recently been in southern Africa and have been in hotel quarantine since landing in Australia.“NSW Health is requesting every person who was on flight SQ231 from Singapore to Sydney on 28 November to immediately get their first COVID-19 PCR test if not already completed and isolate until they receive a negative result,” NSW Health said on Thursday night.“Under the public health order, they are also required to get a Covid-19 PCR test on day six after arriving in NSW.”NSW Health confirm new Omicron caseAuthorities confirmed one of the Omicron cases in the state was a child who was too young to be vaccinated.NSW Health confirmed the child was staying with their fully vaccinated parents at the Mantra apartments in Chatswood, sparking a seven-day alert from November 23 to 30.Anyone who was at the venue on those dates is considered a casual contact and must immediately get tested and isolate until receiving a negative result.The family arrived on flight QR908 from Doha to Sydney on November 23 and is now isolating in special health accommodation.While the child is confirmed to be infected with Omicron, urgent genomic sequencing is under way to determine which strain the parents have contracted.“These travellers have not been in southern Africa and NSW Health is concerned transmission may have occurred on this flight,” NSW Health said.NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard revealed Covid swabs were being sent back to the lab to make sure they had no traces of Omicron.WA CLOSES BORDER WITH SA, FORMER PREMIER ‘TOO SICK TO TALK’Western Australia will close its border with South Australia on Friday after the state recorded a jump in new Covid cases.SA’s border reopened to interstate travellers that are fully vaccinated on November 23 but has seen cases rise since.WA Premier Mark McGowan on Thursday raised SA’s travel risk to medium, meaning travellers are banned from WA unless they have an exemption.“Obviously, what’s occurred there is quite concerning,” Mr McGowan said.“What we’ve done differently to South Australia is we’ve waited to higher levels of vaccination before such time as we lifted our border arrangements and that’s a safety measure to keep people safe to ensure we avoid further lockdowns and social measures, and get the West Australian community through Christmas and through the New Year period.”Meanwhile, SA has changed border restrictions for anyone entering from NSW.People coming from NSW will have to test on arrival.“This is another way that we will be protecting ourselves,” SA Premier Steven Marshall said.“What I can say is we’ll be monitoring the situation, particularly in NSW, extraordinarily carefully. We have been looking at it daily.”South Australia has recorded 18 new Covid-19 cases and this is expected to increase as a cluster linked to a school reunion at Norwood’s Theatre Bugs venue on Saturday grows.The Norwood cluster rocketed from two with another 16 confirmed for a total of 18. In addition to these 16 new cases who were all fully vaccinated, two unrelated interstate arrivals tested positive.Former premier Jay Weatherill is among the cases linked to the Norwood reunion.The Adelaide Advertiser requested an interview with Mr Weatherill, who texted the reporter to say he was “too sick” to talk.Mr Weatherill, who was SA Premier from 2011 to 2018, had lunch with Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas and former Attorney-General John Rau at an Italian restaurant on Monday. Mr Malinauskas said that when he heard news Mr Weatherill had tested positive, “I immediately left parliament at 8.20pm and went to Victoria Park to get tested.”“I will isolate while I await the test results and further advice from SA Health.”GOLD COAST ON ALERTThe Gold Coast is on high alert after a locally acquired Covid case was detected in the area, after being out in the community for three days.The new case, a fully vaccinated man, was reported on Wednesday afternoon but was included in Thursday’s official Covid figures.Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told parliament on Thursday it is “unlikely” the man has the new Omicron variant, but further testing was underway.“Our public health authorities are investigating whether this case is somehow linked to the previous cases we have seen on the Gold Coast recently, or a new outbreak,” she said.“Either way, it could indicate we have had undetected community transmission in and around the Gold Coast for some time.”It comes as “high risk” workers and teachers in Queensland will soon have to get a Covid-19 vaccine or face losing their jobs under new rules to be announced. Queensland is set to bring itself into line with other states in mandating vaccines for its 100,000-plus education workforce, with new rules expected to go live before the start of the 2022 school year.The premier on Tuesday flagged mandatory vaccine rules for staff at prisons, youth detention centres and airports, while adding that the emergence of the Omicron variant had not altered the state’s plans to open its borders to fully-vaccinated visitors on December 17. Teachers will need to be fully vaccinated by January 23 in time for school to go back.Jabs are already mandatory for those working in Queensland police, aged care, public health and hospitality, while there are discussions for all public servants to be vaccinated as well.No mandatory vaccine rules have been imposed on state politicians or their staff. Ms Palaszczuk said despite the unpredictability of the virus – and the emergence of Omicron – plans to allow quarantine-free interstate travel for fully vaccinated people had not been affected.
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