Get up to speed on all the coronavirus news from across Australia.
Look back on all of Friday's news and updates in our blog.
Key events
- NT records one death
- WA: Special close contact rules for police and health workers
- All of WA to be subject to level one restrictions from Monday morning
- SA records two deaths
- WA records 1043 new cases
- NSW: Wear a mask if you can't keep your distance
- ACT's hospitalisations unchanged
- Queensland records seven deaths
- Tasmania records one new death
- Victoria records 11 deaths
- NSW reports six deaths
- Looking for yesterday's blog?
- Yesterday's COVID numbers
Live updates
By Dannielle Maguire
Cases, hospitalisations and deaths
For a detailed breakdown of cases across the country, check out Charting the Spread.
This post will be updated throughout the day as numbers are announced, so if your state or territory is not mentioned, check back later.
NSW: Six deaths. 1,144 cases are in hospital, 64 of those are in ICU. There are 7,583 new cases.
VIC: 11 deaths. 301 cases are in hospital, 38 of those are in ICU. There are 6,580 new cases.
Tasmania: One death. 11 cases are in hospital, two of those are in ICU. There are 851 new cases.
Queensland: Seven deaths. 350 cases are in hospital, 30 of those are in ICU. There are 5,440 new cases.
ACT: 41 cases are in hospital, three of those are in ICU. There are 773 new cases.
WA: 12 cases are in hospital, none are in ICU. There are 1043 new cases, 825 are confirmed locally acquired cases.
SA: Two deaths. 112 cases are in hospital, 13 of those are in ICU. There are 1,714 new cases.
NT: One death. 101 cases are in hospital, seven of those in ICU.thee are 755 new cases.
By Dannielle Maguire
That's us done for the day
It's time for me to bid you farewell, but we'll be back tomorrow!
Until then* take care of yourselves, wash your hands and look after your mates and family — because good things happen when we all stick together.
By Dannielle Maguire
NT records one death
NT Health says the death was a man in his 50s from Darwin.
That takes the NT's COVID death toll to 20.
There are currently 101 patients in hospital, with 19 patients requiring oxygen. There are seven patients in ICU.
There were 755 new cases today.
By Dannielle Maguire
WA: Special close contact rules for police and health workers
WA Premier Mark McGowan said critical worker rules will be in place when the state reaches "a very high caseload environment".
He says WA isn't there yet, but he was bringing in special isolation rules for critical workers in the police force and the health sector — including pharmacies.
"In the event our police or health workers are designated are close contact but do not have symptoms, they can keep working with the following requirements:
- Return a negative RAT test daily
- Wear a surgical mask when outside the home
- Travel alone if possible
- Isolate when not at work
"In the event symptoms develop, they must stop working and follow the normal symptomatic close contact rules.
"In the event they return a positive RAT test, they are then a positive case and must follow the positive case rules.
"Even with precautionary measures, having asymptomatic close contacts in the workplace is a higher risk, but we have to balance that against the cost of having higher and higher numbers of health staff and police isolating at home.
"It's not a problem today, but we need to move to those settings now to ensure it does not become one."
Mr McGowan said that while it's just police and health workers, but it might extend to other sectors.
By Dannielle Maguire
WA: Level one restrictions are 'less than ideal'
That's from WA Premier Mark McGowan:
"Some parts of WA have never had these kinds of rules in place.
"Many parts of WA have avoided lockdowns and these kinds of restrictions for the past two years.
"It will take some adjustment.
"But I'm sure regional West Australians will rise to the occasion."
He said businesses across the state will be eligible for financial support from the state government, including rent relief and licence fee relief.
"It won't cover everything, but it will provide some much-needed relief and support through some bumpy times ahead."
By Dannielle Maguire
All of WA to be subject to level one restrictions from Monday morning
From 6:00am Monday, the following rules will be in place for the entire state:
Gathering limits
- Indoor gatherings at a private residence limited to a total of 30 people (including household members)
- Outdoor gatherings at a private residence can have up to 200 people provided there is at least 2sqm of space per person (and no more than 30 people, including household members, indoors at any given time)
- Private outdoor gatherings limited to a total of 200 patrons for gatherings not held at a private residence
Capacity limits
2sqm rule for:
- Outdoor gatherings at a private residence
- Hospitality venues
- Fitness venues (including gyms, pilates, yoga and dance studios)
- Entertainment venues
- Museums and galleries
- Places of worship
- Hairdressers and beauty services
- Perth Crown Complex and seated service only on casino gaming floor
- Nightclubs (up to 500 maximum capacity)
75 per cent capacity for seated entertainment venues that face forward, like theatres and cinemas.
By Dannielle Maguire
Tighter restrictions for the Kimberly
WA Premier Mark MacGowan said from 6:00am tomorrow, level one public health social measures will take effect.
By Dannielle Maguire
WA Premier: Be preapred
Mark McGowan said people should be ready to isolate if need be.
He said people to have food, water, paracetamol and a thermometer ready to go just in case.
"But only what you need, don't go overboard.
"Just be prepared."
By Dannielle Maguire
WA: These numbers are expected
WA Premier Mark McGowan said the record number of new cases today might be alarming, but said it was not the time to panic.
"Even though these types of case numbers are what we were expecting, I understand it may come as a shock to some West Australians.
"Many may know someone who has caught the virus, many more know someone who is isolating.
"But once again, I want to stress that this is not a cause for panic.
"But it is a reminder to take the virus seriously as we manage it in the community."
By Dannielle Maguire
WA's Premier to give a COVID update
We've been told WA Premier Mark McGowan will be speaking in about 10 minutes.
By Dannielle Maguire
Omicron is the dominant variant in SA
SA Health has been monitoring which strains are circulating the state by carrying out regular genomic testing on a sample of new cases.
The most recent figures say 97 per cent of those samples are the Omicron strain.
By Dannielle Maguire
More from SA
SA Health says the two deaths reported today were a woman in her 60s and a woman in her 90s.
Of the 112 people in hospital:
- 51 are fully vaccinated
- 21 are either partially vaccinated or unvaccinated
- And the vaccination status of 40 is unknown
By Dannielle Maguire
SA records two deaths
There are 112 people in hospital, 13 of those in intensive care.
There were 1,714 new cases.
By Dannielle Maguire
Here's your first dose of good news
Got something to share? Hit that big blue comment button!
The kids are at school, swimming lessons are back on, I’m spending some time in the office and our backyard landscaping is going ahead. I know life isn’t quite back to normal, and I’m not sure what might be around the corner, but I feel that I can breathe again. I hope others are enjoying a little bit of normality too
-Taking a deep breath
Good news - IT IS FRIDAY !!!!
-Sharna
Good news sharing, my not-quite 5 month old finally started rolling by herself on the weekend. After a long frustrating wait in a harness, she's not letting anything stop her now!
-Proud dad
By Dannielle Maguire
What we know about the deaths reported by the NT yesterday
There were three deaths reported in the territory yesterday.
- One was a man in his 70s from Darwin. NT Health said he had underlying health conditions
The other two had been referred to the Office of the Chief Health Officer to determine if the deaths were from COVID-19 or if COVID-19 was a contributing factor.
They were both verified as COVID-19 related deaths yesterday morning.
NT Health said they were:
- A man in his 60s from a remote community in WA who had underlying health conditions. He died at Royal Darwin Hospital on February 18
- A woman in her 60s from a remote community in Central Australia who had underlying health conditions. She died at Alice Springs Hospital on February 17
There have now been 19 COVID-19 related deaths in the NT since the beginning of the pandemic.
By Dannielle Maguire
We're still waiting on COVID data from SA and the NT
Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about you!
By Dannielle Maguire
WA: 12 people in hospital
None of those are in intensive care.
WA's Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson says that's likely to increase given the number of new cases recorded in recent days.
He pointed out that increases in hospitalisation figures are typically a few weeks behind an increase in case numbers.
By Dannielle Maguire
More cases reported in WA's largest remote Aboriginal community
WA's Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson spoke to ABC Radio Perth a short time ago.
He says that of the new cases today, 10 were reported in Bidyadanga — that brings the total number of cases there up to 29:
"There's obviously a lot of testing going on in the community at the moment, and the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services are leading as the health provider up there."
