New South Wales has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, reporting 52 deaths from Covid in the last 24 hours.
It comes as the state’s chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, confirmed four cases of the new Omicron subvariant, described as “son of Omicron”, saying there is “likely to be more”.
“This is a sublineage, a sort of breakaway from the Omicron variant. We know that it is circulating in countries and we have seen it grow significantly,” she said.
“At the moment we don’t see that it is presenting anything different clinically in terms of the severity or its response to vaccine but we’ll obviously be watchful, monitor the situation closely.”
Chant said the new variant contains the “S gene” that characterised the Omicron variant, but said “special genomic sequencing” was required to “get a handle on its distribution.”
NSW reported 13,524 new cases, with a total of 2,663 hospitalisations, of which 182 are in ICU.
Of the 52 deaths, 33 were men and 19 were women. One person was over 100, 11 were in their 90s, 26 were in their 80s, 11 were in their 70s and three were in their 60s.
Thirty-one of the people that died were aged care residents, with only two of them having received booster shots.
“On behalf of everybody across our state, can I extend our condolences to the families, our thoughts and prayers, our hearts are with you today and over this difficult time,” the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, said.
Chant said NSW Health was also changing its reporting period, changing its cut-off time from 8pm to 4pm, to allow epidemiologists, surveillance officers and data analysts to shift to “more sustainable footing.”
“This will also allow them to focus on some additional work in epidemiology reports and provide more granular detail that will support the community as we move forward with our Covid response,” she said.
Perrottet urged people to get their booster vaccine dose, noting that only about 40% of the eligible population had received their third jab so far.
The premier told Sky News he expected the number of Covid deaths to “remain stable” and that NSW should prepare for “a difficult fly season”.
“We expect those [death] numbers to stay pretty consistent,” he said. “This is the new world.”
Perrottet unveiled a $1bn support package for small businesses and landlords who have been affected by the state’s skyrocketing case numbers.
The support package includes payment of 20% of weekly payroll costs to companies that can prove a decline in turnover of at least 40% across January, and an extension of the commercial landlord hardship grant, which supports landlords providing rental relief to tenants affected by downturns.
It also included an increase to the small business fees and charges rebate, with the treasurer, Matt Kean, saying the government would also cover 50% of the costs of rapid antigen tests.
“This is to help our small business sector to get through the other side so they can support the economy.
“Money will come online by March to ensure that we don’t put additional pressure on the supply of rapid antigen tests in the market.
“It will come online at a time when there are enough rapid antigen test to ensure they are affordable and accessible to everyone in the community.”
In Victoria, 20 deaths and 10,589 new cases were recorded. The premier, Daniel Andrews, said the booster shot may soon be considered as important as the earlier two jabs.
“I think it’s only a matter of time before the relevant federal agencies confirm that this is three doses, but it is not two plus a bonus.
“It really is three doses to be protected not just against really critical illness, but to be protected or minimise the likelihood that you get it and give to the people that you love.”
Andrews noted that the seven-day case number average had been dropping in Victoria, from “nearly 19,000” last week to 12,659 this week.
“We are seeing that positive trend, and a more optimistic picture than even our modelling predicted,” he said. “You can see a very significant reduction in the number of people in the community that have Covid.”
There are now 889 people in hospital with Covid in Victoria, with 111 in intensive care and 35 on ventilators.
Tasmania reported one death on Sunday and 594 new cases, while South Australia reported two deaths and 1,633 new cases.
