Live: All the COVID news you need from across Australia

By Nicholas McElroy

Cases, hospitalisations and deaths

If you don’t see your state or territory yet, don’t worry — these figures will be updated throughout the day as they become available.

Can’t get enough of the data? Check out the ABC’s Charting the Spread

Victoria: 34,836 new cases (15,440 from rapid antigen tests and 19,396 from PCR tests) 18 deaths; 976 in hospital, 112 in ICU including 30 ventilated

New South Wales: 63,018 new cases (37,938 from rapid antigen tests and 25,080 from PCR tests), 29 deaths, 2,525 in hospital, 184 in ICU

Tasmania: 1,201 new cases (852 from rapid antigen tests), 10 people in hospital, 0 people in ICU, 0 deaths

Queensland: 23,630 new cases (10,182 from rapid antigen tests), three deaths, 589 people in hospital, 41 in ICU, 15 people ventilated

ACT: 1,125 new cases (240 from rapid antigen tests) 27 people in hospital, three in ICU, three people ventilated

South Australia: 5,679 new cases (1747 from rapid antigen tests), 246 people in hospital with 8 on a ventilator

Western Australia: Authorities are yet to release the latest figures

Northern Territory: 546 new cases, 27 people in hospital and one person is in intensive care

Tasmanian hospital suspends some elective surgeries due to COVID-induced staff shortages

Some elective surgeries at a major hospital in Tasmania’s north-west have been suspended due to severe staff shortages caused by positive cases of COVID-19.

Today, Tasmania’s deputy secretary of the Department of Health Dale Webster said 90 staff at the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie were unable to work either due to being infected with the virus, or being a close contact.

As a result, Mr Webster said the hospital had escalated to Level 3 of its COVID management plan.

“Outpatient and elective surgery activity will be reduced, with outpatient services for urgent and category 1 patients to be moved to telehealth over the coming days.

“The hospital is implementing strategies to increase workforce capacity, including staff to reconsider leave arrangement and exemptions in line with the public health order.”

Those impacted by the changes to elective surgery will be contacted by the Department of Health today.

Allied health workers fill in as nurses in hospitals feel strain of Omicron surge

By Shannon Schubert and Alexander Darling

Bendigo Health is looking at new ways to support short-staffed departments as it response to having a significant number of its workforce furloughed with COVID-19.

There are about 50 Bendigo Health staff furloughed each day, approximately 75 per cent of whom are nurses.

The shortage has prompted the hospital to turn to allied health workers for support.

Jacob Moresi, who has been a physiotherapist at Bendigo Health for six years, has recently started doing something he’s never done before —working shifts as a nurse.

“I was a little bit nervous to be honest on my first shift,” he said.

“We’ve got a very good working relationship, we work with them every day, so they helped orientate me pretty quickly.”

Australia’s second dose vaccination rate for 0+ population is at 77.8 per cent 

Hillsong Church regrets ‘giving any perception that we were not playing our part’

Hillsong Church has issued an apology after allowing hundreds of people to sing and dance at a youth camp, after NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said he was “completely shocked” by video from the event.

Health authorities yesterday demanded singing and dancing immediately stop at the event, as NSW Police intervened to “ensure future compliance” with COVID-19 restrictions.

The video showed hundreds of participants maskless, singing and dancing inside a large tent with performers on stage.

“We regret giving any perception that we were not playing our part to keep NSW safe and we sincerely apologise to the community at large,” Hillsong said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

But it maintained the youth camp was not a music festival.

“These are high school-aged events that include sporting activities and games,” the statement said.

“They are alcohol-free events, held outdoors, and the number of students attending each camp is just over 200.”

Read more here.

COVID-19 continues to surge through aged care

Aged care has been one of the most vulnerable parts of Australian society throughout the pandemic, and that comes off the back of systemic issues identified following the royal commission.

As COVID continues to surge through the sector with more than 500 homes currently dealing with outbreaks, families with loved ones in lockdown, many who are still awaiting booster shots, want answers.

NT reports rise in hospitalisations, failure to send contact tracing messages

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 in the Northern Territory has risen to 27, accounting for approximately 0.8 per cent of active cases.

20 people in hospital are receiving acute care, 1 is in intensive care.

The NT recorded 546 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, bringing the total number of active cases in the Territory to 3,300.

The lockout for unvaccinated residents of the remote communities of Yuendumu and Yuelamu has been extended by another 5 days, after the cluster grew to 43 cases.

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner has also admitted the Territory’s contact tracing alert system had failed in the past week, with no text messages being sent out to alert Territorians if they had possibly been in contact with COVID-19.

The Chief Minister apologised for the failure and said the person responsible had been stood down from the emergency operations centre.

He said text messages will begin being sent out again from 3:00pm today.

Australia’s largest Aboriginal community had three COVID cases at the start of the week. Now there are 75 across 30 households

By Kate McKenna and Janelle Miles

There has been a rapid spread of COVID-19 in First Nations communities in Queensland, with the virus infecting dozens of households in the Far North Queensland town of Yarrabah in just four days.

Doctors are worried about getting food delivered to isolating families, because non-government associations do not extend their services to the community, which is located about 40 minutes south of Cairns.

Local health officials said COVID cases at Yarrabah, a community of about 2,500, had skyrocketed from three at the start of the week to 75 across 30 households.

The growing Yarrabah cluster comes amid a rapid rise in COVID cases in overcrowded First Nations’ communities across Queensland that is worrying health experts, given high rates of chronic disease.

During the current Omicron wave Cherbourg, about 250 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, has detected 100 infections, Palm Island, off Townsville, has recorded 74, and Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, has confirmed 31.

Australian-made rapid antigen tests awaiting TGA approval

Sam Lanyon, executive chairman of Lumos Diagnostics, a Melbourne-based firm producing rapid antigen tests says his company has been waiting months to get their tests approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use in Australia.

SA records 5,679 new cases as expert predicts cases could peak at up to 10,000 per day

South Australia’s recorded six new coronavirus deaths and a record 5,679 positive test results, a daily increase of more than 2000.

The Premier Steven Marshall says the fluctuation in daily positive test results is a factor of some testing stations being closed for hot weather, with tests conducted during the evening not processed until the following day.

1747 of the positive test results were recorded in rapid antigen tests.

There are now 246 people with COVID-19 in hospital. 20 are in intensive care, eight of them on ventilators.

The SA Government says updated modelling for the Omicron variant of COVID-19 predicts about 370 hospital admissions and 50 people in ICU after infections peak later in January.

The modelling, prepared by University of Adelaide Professor Joshua Ross, predicts peak cases of between 6,000 and 10,000 per day between January 15 and January 25.

The government is using the numbers to justify its decision to return to school with at home learning for a majority of students until mid-February.

The government says the median number of daily new cases on January 31 – when school was set to resume – is estimated to be about 5,800 cases, while a fortnight later, the predicted daily total should be around 1,800 cases.

South Australia records six COVID deaths

The state has recorded 5,679 new cases. 

Premier Steven Marshall urged caution in this data because of delays yesterday. He said many of the samples reported today are from two days ago.

The state has 246 people in hospital with COVID-19, 20 people are in ICU and 8 patients on ventilators.

New Victorian medi-hotels will be kept separate from existing hotel quarantine

The head of COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Emma Cassar says the new medi-hotels will be kept separate from the existing hotel quarantine system. 

“So, the quarantine hotels will be separated, so that will be a standalone hotel for unvaccinated arrivals who are not positive, and the two health hotels which we partner with Alfred Health will continue,” she said.

US Supreme Court blocks Biden’s COVID vaccine mandate

The US Supreme Court has blocked President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses, with the conservative justices deeming the policy an improper imposition on the lives and health of many Americans.

The court did, however, endorse a separate federal vaccine requirement for healthcare facilities. 

Mr Biden voiced disappointment with the conservative-majority court’s decision to halt his administration’s rule requiring vaccines or weekly COVID-19 tests for employees at businesses with at least 100 employees.

Mr Biden said it was up to states and employers to decide whether to require workers “to take the simple and effective step of getting vaccinated”.

The court was divided in both cases, centring on pandemic-related federal regulations at a time of escalating coronavirus infections driven by the Omicron variant in a nation that leads the world with more than 845,000 COVID-19 deaths.

It ruled 6-3 to block the rule involving large businesses — a policy that applied to more than 80 million employees.

The court’s majority downplayed the risk COVID-19 specifically posed in the workplace, comparing it instead to “day-to-day” crime and pollution hazards that individuals face everywhere.

Services Australia puts call out for 500 extra staff to deal with surge in pandemic payment applications

By Matthew Doran

The spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is putting immense pressure on Services Australia, with the agency issuing a callout to federal public servants for help in processing applications for emergency financial support.

Australians forced to self-isolate or quarantine because they’ve been infected with COVID-19, have come into close contact with a person who has the virus, or are caring for someone who’s been infected can apply for the pandemic leave payment worth up to $750 a week — if they’re not getting any other income during that time.

An email sent to public servants announced Services Australia needed an extra 500 staff for the next two months – a request which had been approved by Australian Public Service Commissioner Peter Woolcott and the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Phil Gaetjens.

“Services Australia has already surged its workforce and mobilised non-service delivery staff within the Agency to meet the extraordinary demand for assistance,” the email said.

“Additional assistance from across the APS is now sought to implement these internal arrangements.

“The work will involve the processing of the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment claims submitted online by customers.

“Employers participating in this surge will be an integral part of the Australian Government’s response to the current COVID-19 situation, and will be supporting the Australian community at a time of critical need.”

APS managers have also been asked to consider pausing non-essential work, so that staff can be seconded to Services Australia.

New Zealand reports 18 new community case, 34 people in hospital

Authorities identified 43 new cases at the international border.

ACT records 1,125 new confirmed COVID cases, including reported positive RATs

The ACT has recorded 1,125 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 —a number that includes reported positive rapid antigen test (RAT) results.

Canberrans are now able to register their positive RAT results online, and the tally released today includes 240 positive RATs recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday.

Through PCR tests, the territory recorded 885 new cases of COVID-19 in the same timeframe.

The 240 new positive RAT reports are in addition to 1,178 positive RAT results recorded between January 8-12.

27 people are now in hospital as a result of COVID-19 in Canberra, including three people in intensive care, all of whom require ventilation.

28.1 per cent of Canberrans aged 18 and older have received their booster and 98.6 per cent of Canberrans aged 12 and older have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.