All the COVID news for Australia on December 23 — As it happened (2024)

Victoria:2,005new cases, 10deaths. 398in hospital, 72in ICU.

92 per centof people aged 12+ are fully vaccinated.

NSW:5,715new cases, onedeath. 347in hospital, 45in ICU.

93.5 per centof people aged 16+are fully vaccinated.

Tasmania: 26 new cases.

90.87per centof people aged 12+ are fully vaccinated.

Queensland:369 new cases.

85 per centof people aged 16+ are fully vaccinated.

ACT: 85 new cases. Three in hospital, 0 in ICU.

98.4 per cent of people aged 12+ are fully vaccinated.

NT: 10 new cases. 11 people are in hospital, one in ICU.

SA: 484 new cases. 7 people are in hospital, one in ICU.

86.9per cent of people aged 12+ are fully vaccinated.

WA: 1 new case.

83 per cent of people aged 12+ are fully vaccinated.

Thank you for reading today. If you are staying up late you can stay up to datewith further COVID news on the Coronavirus section of the ABC news site.

Mark McGowan repeated his hope that the state would make it to the February 5 opening date without spread of the virus.

"This may be the event that provides us with community spread of the virus, very sadly and very unfortunately," he said.

"That's why I'm saying to everyone, please go and get vaccinated as soon as you can."

This was echoed by the Police Commissioner Chris Dawson, who said while 100,000 people had now received a booster, 165,000 more were eligible and should get it as soon as possible.

Pharmacists are calling for funding equity between them and general practitioners who administer COVID-19 vaccinations, to help avoid workforce burnout and ensure Australia's immunisation schedule stays on track.

Yesterday, the Commonwealth announced payments made to general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists who administer boosters would increase by $10 for each jab.

It's a move welcomed by the national president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA), Chris Freeman, who said several pharmacists had been considering withdrawing from the vaccine program, because of financial and logistical pressures.

He said many had stayed on because of a commitment to the community, but warned it was not sustainable.

"It's a good start, with the $10, but I think there is some way to go before pharmacists and GPs are fully resourced and helping the community with this," Dr Freeman said.

"Compared to GPs, pharmacists are paid almost half the fee, even with the $10 increase, for doing the exact same job.

"So, while that's welcome, there is still some way to go in terms of making sure there's an equity [in] service provision there."

Read more

Masks aremandatory in all indoor public venues and a range of festivals will be cancelled after a COVID-positive 25-year-old French backpacker has been out and about in Perth for almost two weeks.

WA Premier Mark McGowan said the man arrived from Queenslandon the night of Sunday, December 12,just before a harder border with was introduced.

At this stage, Mr McGowan said the case was likely to be the Delta strain rather than Omicron.

The man's girlfriend is symptomatic and is now in hotel quarantine.

He has been living with four other people in a house in Girrawheen —allhave been contacted and are undergoing testing.

Read more for further details, including restrictions put in place for Perth and Peel

Close contacts have to get tested and isolate for 14 days, while casual contacts need to isolate until they get a negative test.

Mr McGowan said, at the moment, the overwhelming majority of contacts are casual.

"We know of five close contacts — the backpacker's girlfriend, and his four housemates," he said.

He warned this number may grow.

Along with being open until 10pm tonight, testing clinics will be open from 7am to 8pm tomorrow and Christmas Day, and 7am to 10pm on Boxing Day.

Private clinics will keep the same hours.

West Australian Health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said contact tracers are working around the clock, with 70 working on the situation.

Mr McGowan could not confirm how many people had been contacted from the exposure sites, but that it was 'in the hundreds'.

"He's a backpacker who went out to nightclubs, bars, restaurants and museums, all that sort of stuff," he said.

"That's why we're so concerned… he's been to events where there's been lots of dancing, lots of fun, and interaction between people in close proximity."

Mr McGowan reiterated his comments from yesterday about lockdowns, confirming there would not be one following this incident due to high levels of vaccination.

"Christmas Day will proceed as normal," he said.

"Family lunches and get-togethers, obviously we're not going to put in a mask mandate for those."

"I know this is not the news we wanted to hear two days before Christmas, but unfortunately this is the reality of COVID-19," Mr McGowan said.

"No matter how hard our border controls, the virus can sneak into Western Australia."

Mr McGowan said the backpacker had been using the Safe WA app, which has enabled contact tracers to build a comprehensive picture of the man's movements since his arrival in Perth.

"This has allowed our contact tracers to reach out to hundreds of people," he said.

"This is an important reminder for us to keep checking in, now more than ever."

From 6pm tonight until at least 6am on Tuesday, December 28, a number of rules will apply across Perth and Peel:

• Masks will be mandatory in all public indoor settings, including workplaces, public transport, shopping centres and hospitality venues.The mandate does not apply to the home, or people doing vigorous indoor exercise.
• Masks are recommended for outside when you cannot physically distance.
• High-risk large public events like music festivals will be cancelled during this period, and all nightclubs closed.

• Aldi The Square Mirrabooka, Kmart The Square Mirrabooka, and Vinnies Mirrabooka on December 22
• McDonalds Girrawheen, Perth Mess Hall, Connections Nightclub, and Geisha Nightclub were visited on December 19
• Dan Murphy's Joondalup on December 18
• The Bloody French restaurant in Subiaco and Palace Cinema Raine Square on December 17
• The Galway Hooker pub, Scarborough Sunset Markets and WA Museum Boola Bardip on December 16

For the full list visit WA Health

Mr McGowan said:

"If you've been to any of the exposure sites or if you're feeling unwell, it's important to get tested.

"Clinics are in the process of being ramped up, and they will stay open tonight until 10pm."

The backpacker'sgirlfriend is symptomatic and now in hotel quarantine.

The man has been living with four other people in a house in Girrawheen, who have been contacted and are undergoing testing.

Mr McGowan said the housemates had been camping near Mandurah, and would be put into hotel quarantine pending test results.

Mr McGowan said Western Australia would not go into lockdown despite the new case. But in Perth and Peel, from 6pm local time tonight, masks will be mandatory in all indoor settings, except at home or when doing vigorous indoor exercise.

Music festivals will be cancelled, nightclubs closed, and dancing banned everywhere except weddings.

Masks will also be recommended for use outside, with Mr McGowan urging people to "use common sense".

Mr McGowan said the man who has tested positive feltsick on Sunday and got tested yesterday.

"The result came through this morning and it was a strong positive. The advice at this point is that it is unlikely to be the Omicron strain and therefore morelikely to be the Delta variant."

WA Premier Mark McGowan saysWestern Australia has one new local COVID-19 case.

He said the case,a 25-year-old man who was originally from France, travelled into Western Australia from Queensland earlier this month.

Is there any breakdown on the locations of the SA covid cases? Are these all in Adelaide, or has it hit the regions yet? I have family in the south east and am worried that once it hits there, it’ll go through like wildfire…

-Worried in SA

Hi. I suggestmonitoring the contact tracing and exposure locations on the SA Health website. I hope that helps.