Covid deaths drop in NSW but surge in Victoria
Another 64 Covid-related deaths have been reported in NSW and Victoria on Tuesday morning.
NSW reported 30 deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday night, marking a decline in daily deaths after back-to-back days of the state reporting a record 52 Covid deaths on Monday and Sunday, and 49 deaths on Saturday.
NSW also reported 12,818 new infections, as daily cases numbers continue to slowly trend down.
The number of cases in intensive care was up one to 186 while there are currently 2,749 people in hospitals across the state with Covid.
Victoria, meanwhile, reported another 34 Covid-related deaths on Tuesday and more than 11,300 new infections across PCR and rapid antigens tests.
State Health Minister Martin Foley explained to reporters on Tuesday the large number was due to a backlog of death which occurred in recent days, but are only now being reported.
The number of hospital patients with Covid-19 has fallen by 22 to 851. There are 106 people in intensive care with the virus in Victoria, four more than the previous day, with 30 of those on a ventilator.
Parents 'anxious' as school resumes
The latest figures come as thousands of NSW public school students headed back to the classroom this morning.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says there will be bumps along the way and "it won't be all smooth sailing" but it's important for children to get back to the classroom.
"I know that may parents are anxious ... but this is incredibly important as we move through 2022," he said.
"There's nothing more important than having our kids back in the classroom."
He was speaking on Tuesday after greeting pupils at Sydney's Ultimo Public school before announcing suspended non-urgent elective surgery would resume on Monday.
"We thought that ... we could bring that back in mid-February but we've been able to bring that forward and that's incredibly important," he said.
with AAP
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