Another 55 people have died from COVID-19 across Australia.
NSW reported 18 deaths on Tuesday, Victoria recorded 20, while 12 people lost their lives in Queensland, four in South Australia and one in the ACT.
NSW reported 9,690 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, up from 7,347 on Monday and 7,893 on Sunday. Last month, the state recorded an average of 30,000 cases a day.
The number of patients in hospital fell from 2,099 to 2,068 and of those, 132 are in ICU, down from 137 on Monday and 147 on Sunday.
Forty-four per cent of the eligible population has now had a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Monday the state was now “in a very strong position”, with activity returning to the CBD and customers returning to cafes and restaurants.
He said he would “like to see people come back to the office as quickly as possible”.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said there was a significant number of COVID-19 patients in hospital, but fewer than forecast.
Elective surgery resumed in private and non-metro public hospitals on Monday.
Victoria’s RAT rollout expanded
Victoria reported 9,785 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, up from 8,275 cases on Monday.
Of those, 575 are in hospital, down from 638 on Monday, with 72 in ICU and 30 on ventilators.
The fresh cases include 7,216 from rapid antigen tests (RATs) and 2,569 from PCR tests, the health department said on Tuesday.
Victoria’s voluntary school COVID-19 testing program will be expanded to children aged three to five in childcare services, Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Tuesday.
While Victorian primary and secondary students are currently asked to take twice-weekly RATs, the same recommendation had only applied to staff in early childhood education and care.
In the next two weeks, 1.6 million RATs will be delivered to services, beginning with sessional kindergartens and then early childhood services, including long day care, family day care and occasional care.
“It’s all about giving parents peace of mind, it’s all about trying to support every family,” Mr Andrews told reporters on Tuesday.
As with school settings, the program will be voluntary but highly recommended.
Families will be provided with medical guidance on how to easily administer the nasal tests to young children and get a result within 15 to 30 minutes.
About 46 per cent of Victorians over 18 have received a vaccine booster dose after 15,870 of them were administered at state-run hubs on Monday.
What’s happening elsewhere?
Queensland recorded 5,178 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday after 11,870 rapid antigen and PCR tests in the 24 hours to 6.30am on Tuesday.
It came as the state hit a 90 per cent double-vaccinated rate.
The new death reported in the ACT was that of a man in his 70s. He was the 30th person to die from COVID-19 in the ACT since the start of the pandemic.
A further 495 infections were detected in the most recent reporting period – the highest number of new cases in the national capital in almost a week.
Of the new cases, 264 of them were from PCR tests while there were 231 positive cases from RATs. The number of COVID-19 patients being treated in hospital has declined to 55.
South Australia, meanwhile, reported another 1,296 COVID-19 cases.
SA Health said the new cases left the total number of active infections at 14,159.
There are 204 people in hospital, down from 224 on Monday, including 15 in intensive care where two are on a ventilator.
The Northern Territory recorded another 1,092 COVID-19 infections, with most picked up through RATs.
Tasmania reported 601 new COVID-19 cases, an increase on daily numbers reported in recent days.
There are 10 people being treated in hospital for the virus, a rise from Monday’s figure of eight. One of them is in intensive care.
SBS With AAP.
