Here’s a quick wrap of the COVID-19 news and case numbers from each Australian jurisdiction for the past week, as reported on Friday, November 4, 2022.
The states and territories are now reporting their COVID-19 statistics weekly instead of through the daily updates that were provided from the early days of the pandemic.
This story will be updated throughout the day, so if you do not see your state or territory, check back later.
New South Wales
New South Wales has recorded 24 COVID-19 deaths, an increase from 16 last week.
Cases are also up in NSW, with the state recording 12,450 new COVID-19 cases compared to 10,050 cases last week.
In some good news, hospitalisations have dropped slightly, with 809 patients in hospital compared to 820 last week. ICU admissions are also down, with 17 requiring care compared to 25 last week.
Victoria
Victoria is reporting its COVID deaths as a seven-day rolling average, and notes not all deaths occurred in the week in which they are reported due to a delaying in reporting to the Department of Health.
The state reported 24 deaths this week and 10,226 cases, an increase from last week’s total of 8,537 new cases.
There are 231 patients in hospital, up from 172 last week. Seven people are in ICU.
One thing to know: Australians warned of ‘another COVID wave’ as sub-variants take hold
Australia can expect another wave of COVID-19 infections in coming weeks, experts say, as case numbers rise and new variants circulate.
In a report released on Thursday, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant warned infections would soon increase.
“By looking at all the local information we have and what’s happening overseas, we believe COVID cases will rise in the coming weeks,” she said.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, said the numbers signalled the start of another surge.
Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, said the next wave was starting across Australia.
“We could see this and maybe another wave early next year. It just means there’s that constant exposure risks going ahead,” she said.
The data showed that in the last week of October, numbers increased in all states and territories except Queensland.
You can continue reading this story by data journalist Catherine Hanrahan here.
Something else: Almost two-thirds of Australians — including children — have had COVID, blood study suggests
As authorities warn Australia is about to enter a “new COVID-19 wave”, new research suggests almost two-thirds of Australians — including children and adolescents — have now had the virus.
Australia’s National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) tests blood samples from adults and children for COVID-19 antibodies every 13 weeks.
The most recent samples — collected between June and August this year — showed at least 65 per cent of Australian adults and 64 per cent of children had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 recently, likely in the past year.
That’s up from the 46 per cent of infected adults from the last round of results published in June, and a massive increase from the 17 per cent of adults from results released in February.
You can continue reading this story from by national medical reporter Sophie Scott here.
ICYMI: TikToker who released NSW COVID numbers found guilty over lockdown rally speech
A TikTok comedian who gave a speech at a lockdown protest in Sydney last year has been found guilty of encouraging the group to commit a crime.
Jon-Bernard Kairouz gained a profile after correctly “predicting” daily COVID-19 cases for a short period during NSW’s 2021 lockdown.
On Wednesday the 25-year-old was found guilty of encouraging criminal behaviour by speaking at the protest in the CBD, telling the crowd it was “time for freedom” and calling himself “the people’s premier”.
You can continue reading this article from reporter Helena Burke here.
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