NSW sets another daily Covid record
NSW has set another record for daily Covid case numbers, however the daily jump has not been as big as previous days.
The state reported 2,482 total new cases on Saturday morning, up from 2,213 cases reported on Friday, which was then a new record.
Hospital admissions have not seen the same surge with 206 people currently in hospital with Covid, down from the previous day. Of those, 26 are in the intensive care unit, according to NSW Health.
NSW reported one more Covid death this morning.
NSW has seen a roughly seven-fold increase in daily cases in just two weeks as the infection rate climbs. Today's figure is the highest daily caseload of infections reported in any jurisdiction in Australia since the pandemic began.
It came from a whopping 137,149 tests in the past 24-hour period.
With restrictions and the mask mandate winding back, authorities are optimistic a high vaccination rate will be able to protect the healthcare system from the expected wave of cases over the Christmas period.
As of Saturday, 93.3 per cent of people aged over 16 in the state were double-dose vaccinated.
With concerns about Omicron growing, those who are eligible are urged to get their booster shot to improve their immune defence.
"Based on emerging data, you should get a booster if you can," AMA vice president Chris Moy tweeted on Saturday.
Premier Dominic Perrottet is urging "perspective" as he faces pressure to reintroduce restrictions amid the record high numbers.
"It is obviously going to be a challenging time. We accept that," he told reporters on Friday.
"But we need perspective.
"Our number one focus is to keep people safe, to keep hospitalisations and ICU numbers down."
Here is a chart comparing daily cases to people in hospital in NSW.
There is no time shift depicted here, however through Jun-Oct wave the two seemed to follow each other quite reliably. pic.twitter.com/kd389Gj6JL— CovidBaseAU 🦠📊🇦🇺 (@covidbaseau) December 17, 2021
Victoria reports seven more Covid deaths
Victoria has reported 1504 new Covid-19 infections (from 88,083 test results) and another seven deaths, as authorities probe whether infected Melbourne nightclub goers have the Omicron variant.
The health department confirmed on Saturday the state is now managing 13,443 active infections.
There are 384 patients in hospital, 84 of whom are actively infected with the virus in intensive care and 43 on ventilators.
The seven-day hospitalisation average has risen by two to 368.
At least 19 confirmed Omicron infections have been detected in Victoria to date, with another six reported on Friday.
with AAP
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