COVID-19 kills another 12 people in Australia as vaccine rollout passes new milestone

NSW has recorded another six deaths from COVID-19, Victoria has recorded another three while Queensland, the ACT and South Australia have each recorded one death from the virus in the previous 24 hours.

Ten more people have died after contracting COVID-19 in New South Wales, Victoria and ACT as more restrictions ease and Australia’s vaccine rollout passes another milestone.

AdvertisementFifty per cent of children aged five to 11 have now received their first dose of a Pfizer vaccine, days after Moderna was also green-lit for children over six.

NSW recorded 5,856 COVID-19 cases and six deaths on Monday, with the government pushing for workers to return to the office.

Case continue to gradually decline and NSW Health reports there are 1,136 people in hospital, 55 of them in intensive care, and 54.1 per cent of adults are triple-vaccinated.

Premier Dominic Perrottet is upbeat that the relaxing of restrictions, particularly scrapping the requirement to wear masks in offices, will lead to a return to work in the CBD.

Masks mandates in most indoor settings were dropped on Friday and they will be lifted in schools from Monday.

Staff and students will also no longer be required to undertake twice-weekly rapid antigen tests.

“Ultimately now, with face masks being removed for the office, I think we’ll see a lot more people return to the city tomorrow and not just the city CBD but in Wollongong and Parramatta as well, as people return to work,” Mr Perrottet told reporters on Sunday.

Three COVID-19 deaths in Victoria

Victoria has recorded another 5,852 COVID-19 infections and three more people have died from the virus.

The new cases include 4,329 from rapid antigen tests and 1,523 from PCR lab tests, the health department said on Monday.

There are 41,205 active cases in the state.

The number of people in hospital has risen by nine from Sunday, with 283 infected people in hospital. Of these, 42 are in intensive care and seven on ventilation.

About 58.9 per cent of Victorian adults have received three vaccine doses.

The latest figures come as more Victorian workers return to offices on Monday.

The state government’s work-from-home recommendation has been lifted as mask rules eased across the state late last week.

Face coverings are only required when using public transport and taxis, or visiting airports and hospitals.

But hospitality and retail workers, primary school and early childhood staff, and justice and correctional facility employees must continue wearing them.

High school students can remove theirs in class but primary school children in grades 3 to 6 still have to wear them for now.

Queensland records one death as state prepares to scrap mask mandates

Queensland has recorded one new COVID-19 death and 3,312 new cases with less than a week before mask mandates life across the state.

Currently there are 311 people in hospital, 25 of whom are in ICU, Queensland Health tweeted on Monday.

It comes as the state prepares to scrap mask mandates in most indoor settings and density limits at most venues from 6pm on Friday.

Masks will still be mandatory on public transport and in airports, hospitals, disability care, aged care and prisons.

ACT reports 464 COVID-19 cases, one death

A man in his 80s has died from COVID-19 in the ACT, as the national capital recorded 464 new cases.

The man is the 34th fatality in Canberra since the pandemic began.

Monday was the third consecutive day the ACT recorded fewer than 500 cases, following a spike in infections stemming from a cluster at residential halls at the Australian National University.

Case numbers rising in Tasmania

Tasmania has recorded 734 new coronavirus infections, with the island state’s number of active cases again increasing.

Tasmania has recorded 734 new coronavirus infections, with the state’s number of active cases rising for the 13th day in a row.

Monday’s daily figure is a rise from the 676 fresh cases reported on Sunday, but a decrease from Saturday’s 792.

There are 4909 documented active cases, an increase from 4884 reported 24 hours earlier.

There are 11 people in hospital with the virus, with four of those being treated specifically for COVID-19. No patients are in intensive care.

South Australia reports falling caseloads and one death

South Australia has reported 1,358 new COVID-19 cases, the fifth consecutive day of falling case numbers.

SA Health also revealed the death of a man in his 80s, taking the death toll to 177 since the start of the pandemic.

There are 109 people in hospital, including 10 in intensive care with two on ventilation.

Active infections across the state stand at 15,432.

Daily case numbers have come down steadily since January 23 when they jumped to 1,958, a rise of almost 600 on the previous day.

The increase was not unexpected considering the return of students to school, the start of the Fringe arts festival and the revised work from home guidelines, which prompted more people to return to their offices.

The fall on Monday also came as the final restrictions on elective surgery were lifted.

Western Australia records 1,140 new cases with 11 in hospital

Western Australia has recorded a further 1,140 coronavirus cases as free rapid antigen tests are rolled out to more than a million households.

The state now has 5,540 active cases but just 11 people are in hospital and none are in intensive care.

Monday’s figures came from just 6,122 PCR tests and 476 self-reported positive RATs, indicating the extent to which the virus has spread through the community.

Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson last week said WA’s positivity rate suggested there were large numbers of asymptomatic cases going undetected.

About 63 per cent of eligible West Australians have now received their third vaccine dose.

Premier Mark McGowan on Sunday announced all WA households will receive five free rapid antigen tests to help deal with growing community spread.

NT reports 392 new cases of COVID-19

Northern Territory officials have reported another 392 COVID-19 infections, as 96 people remain in hospital with the virus including four in intensive care.

Active infections across the Territory stand at 4,397.

Source: sbs.com.au