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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Jasper Lindell

Man in his 90s dies with COVID-19 in ACT as new cases dip below 1000

A man in his 90s with COVID-19 has died in the ACT, while the territory's new infections dipped below 1000 for the first time in four days.

However the number of people in hospital with coronavirus has jumped to the highest level since early February.

There were 959 new COVID-19 cases reported in the ACT on Saturday, including 572 positive PCR results and 387 positive rapid antigen tests.

There are now 5974 active cases of COVID-19 in the territory.

There were 62 people in hospital with COVID-19, three of whom were in intensive care. Two people required ventilation.

In a statement, ACT Health extended its condolences to the family and friends of the man in his 90s who died with COVID-19.

COVID-19 infections are expected to remain around the 1000-a-day mark over the next couple of weeks before slowly declining, internal modelling on the ACT health system shows.

But Canberra's health system is facing increasing pressure due to COVID-related staff shortages, while also continually exhausting its casual pool of staff.

Hospitalisations due to COVID are expected to also remain stable over the coming weeks, with about 45 people, on average, expected to be admitted at any one time.

ACT Health reported the death of a man in his 80s on Friday, which brought the total number of people who had died in the territory since the start of the pandemic to 44.

The ACT reported 1200 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday.

A weekly report on the COVID-19 situation in the ACT released on Friday by ACT Health showed BA.2 Omicron sub-variant infections made up 88 per cent of sequenced cases, up from 86 per cent in the previous week.

ACT Health conducts genome sequencing on 3 per cent of positive PCR results.

Across Australia

NSW reported 17,597 positive COVID-19 tests in the previous 24 hours, along with 10 deaths. There are more than 1400 people in hospital with the virus in the state, of whom 47 are in intensive care.

Victoria reported 9610 new cases on Saturday morning and seven deaths. There are 366 people in Victorian hospitals with the virus, 15 of whom are in intensive care.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccination boosters are a step closer for 12- to 15-year-olds, with the Therapeutic Goods Administration giving provisional approval for a third Pfizer shot for the cohort.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation will still need to sign off on the booster program for that age group.

The TGA on Friday recommended that 12- to 15-year-olds receive a third shot six months after their first two, regardless of which approved vaccine they had received as their primary course.

Daily case numbers in the ACT are expected to stay around 1000 a day, modelling shows. Picture: Shutterstock
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