21 Jan 2022

Covid-19: New South Wales records 46 deaths, Victoria reports 20 deaths

2:46 pm on 21 January 2022

New South Wales has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic - 46 deaths with Covid-19, while Victoria today recorded 20 deaths.

A woman walks past the Sydney Harbour Bridge after stay-at-home orders were lifted across NSW.

Photo: AFP / 2021 Anadolu Agency

NSW recorded 25,168 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night taken from 10,015 rapid antigen tests and 15,153 PCR swabs.

The number of patients admitted to the state's hospitals dropped slightly to 2743, while ICU admissions were down to 209.

The NSW government modelling predicted the Omicron wave would peak this week followed by a stabilisation of hospital numbers.

Nearly 30 percent of the state's eligible population have had their booster shot and 93.8 percent of those aged 16 and over have had two doses.

Victoria records 20 Covid deaths, 18,167 new infections

Victoria reported 20 more deaths from Covid-19 and there are 1096 people in hospital, down from 1206 reported on Thursday.

Of the patients in hospital, there are 121 in intensive care, 34 of whom are on ventilators.

There are now at least 252,399 active cases in the state.

The state has officially recorded 18,167 new Covid-19 infections, but the true number of new cases in the community is much higher.

The new cases were reported from 10,023 PCR results and 8144 at-home rapid antigen tests (RATs).

About 28 percent of Victorian adults have received three doses of a vaccine so far.

Queensland records 13 deaths and 16,031 new cases

Queensland reported 13 more deaths and 16,031 new cases of Covid-19.

Only one of the people who died had received their booster.

Two people were in their 60s, five in their 70s, five in their 80s and one in their 90s.

Two were unvaccinated, one had a single dose, 8 two doses and one had three doses.

There are 855 people in hospital, 54 are in intensive care units and 22 are on ventilators.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk initially said there were 6031 new cases, but CHO John Gerrard confirms that should be 16,031.

Tasmania reports first Covid death since reopening borders, as state records 866 new cases

Tasmania has recorded its first coronavirus death since the state reopened its borders to Covid-19 hotspots in December.

The 90-year-old unvaccinated woman was from the Barrington Lodge Aged Care Centre in Hobart.

The woman had multiple health issues and was tested for Covid-19 on Wednesday amid an outbreak at the centre.

Premier Peter Gutwein said the woman was asymptomatic but Covid-19 could not be ruled out as having contributed to her death, so the case would still be listed as part of the pandemic toll.

"In the interests of transparency, we are reporting it," he said.

The latest death brings the state's total toll since the pandemic began to 14.

Tasmania has not had a Covid death since the 2020 north-west outbreak, early in the pandemic.

The state has recorded 866 new Covid cases, a drop from the 927 yesterday, and active cases have continued to fall.

More than 1000 people recovered from coronavirus in the past day and were free to leave isolation.

Of the 31 people in hospital with Covid, 13 are being treated specifically for their coronavirus symptoms.

Three people remain in ICU, with two of those people on ventilators.

Western Australia delays reopening its border indefinitely

The planned reopening of Western Australia's border to the rest of the country on 5 February will be delayed indefinitely, Premier Mark McGowan has announced.

McGowan called a press conference last night to announce the delay, which he said was due to the escalating health risks posed by the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

The Premier said the state disaster council met on Wednesday and he received advice from the chief health officer on Thursday morning about delaying the reopening.

He said a new date would be considered during the next month.

Some travel conditions were still set to change on 5 February, including expanding the list of people exempt from the hard border, with a focus on those travelling into WA for compassionate reasons.

But those people will still be required to isolate for 14 days.

- ABC

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