News Articles
NSW to open vax for 5-11 year old children
Date of Posting: 05-01-2022
NSW will roll out Pfizer-produced COVID-19 vaccinations for children between five and 11 years from next week. The vaccine is a special formulation and will be delivered in doses small enough to generate an immune response that's as strong as Read More...
Virtual coach launches to help weight loss
Date of Posting: 05-01-2022
New year, new you - and now - new technology promises to assist Australians with their fitness and weight loss goals. Australia's government research organisation launched a new artificial intelligence weight loss coach on Wednesday.[subscribe Read More...
WHO sees more evidence Omicron is milder
Date of Posting: 05-01-2022
More evidence is emerging that the Omicron coronavirus variant is affecting the upper respiratory tract, causing milder symptoms than previous variants, a World Health Organisation official says. "We are seeing more and more studies pointing Read More...
Record COVID-19 hospitalisations for NSW
Last Updated: 04-01-2022
NSW has set records for COVID-19 hospitalisations and daily caseloads, as the state records 23,131 new cases. There are 1344 people in the state's hospitals, 78 more than the previous record set on September 21 when NSW was in the grips of the Read More...
Latest on worldwide spread of coronavirus
Date of Posting: 04-01-2022
WASHINGTON, D. C., RAW - EUROPE * The English Premier League said on Monday it had found 94 positive COVID-19 cases among players and staff in the last week, the first week-by-week decrease in positive results for eight weeks.[subscribe] * Fran Read More...
Panic buying' blamed for test shortage
Date of Posting: 04-01-2022
Scott Morrison has rebuffed growing calls to make rapid antigen tests free for everyone, despite shortages of the tests. As COVID-19 cases linked to the Omicron variant explode across the country, state and territory testing clinics have come unde Read More...
Cruise ship and festival spark Tas concern
Date of Posting: 03-01-2022
Passengers on a cruise ship in Hobart are being held onboard and tested for COVID-19 after two confirmed cases. Public health officials are also concerned about a rising number of infections associated with a music festival at Launceston with 25 l Read More...
Most of Qld to 'get' Omicron within weeks
Date of Posting: 03-01-2022
Queensland is racing toward a peak in COVID-19 infections linked to the highly contagious Omicron variant, with most of the population likely to be exposed "within weeks". Daily COVID-19 cases surged to 4249 on Monday and a man in his la Read More...
Vic hospitals under 'extreme pressure'
Date of Posting: 03-01-2022
Three Victorian hospitals are warning people not to visit emergency departments unless "absolutely necessary" due to extreme pressure from rising COVID-19 admissions and demand for testing. Health authorities say the state will see a &qu Read More...
Rapid antigen testing boost for Victoria
Date of Posting: 02-01-2022
Victoria will soon widen access to rapid antigen tests to ease testing pressure after a heatwave forced the closure of some PCR sites. The state reported 7172 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday and another three virus-related deaths.[subscribe] Read More...
NSW COVID-19 hospital numbers pass 1000
Date of Posting: 02-01-2022
The number of people hospitalised with COVID-19 in NSW has passed 1000 as the state records two more deaths and 18,278 new infections. There are now 1066 people hospitalised with the virus with 83 in intensive care, 24 of whom require ventilation. Read More...
Two more WA backpacker-linked COVID cases
Date of Posting: 02-01-2022
Western Australia has detected two new local COVID-19 cases linked to an infected French backpacker who travelled from Queensland. The new cases are close contacts of another recent infection and are in hotel quarantine, WA Health said on Saturday Read More...
Virus dampens global New Year celebrations
Date of Posting: 01-01-2022
The Omicron coronavirus variant dampened New Year festivities around much of the world, with Paris cancelling its fireworks show, London relegating its to television, and New York City scaling down its famous ball drop celebration in Times Square. Read More...
NSW records 22,577 new COVID-19 cases
Date of Posting: 01-01-2022
NSW has recorded another 22,577 COVID cases and four deaths as the state's huge outbreak continues to surge. It is another daily case record, surpassing Friday's 21,151.[subscribe] Four deaths were recorded, while 901 people are hospita Read More...
Queensland expands indoor mask mandate
Date of Posting: 01-01-2022
Masks must be worn indoors across Queensland after COVID-19 infections in the state continued to move in an "upward trend" despite fewer cases being reported. From 1am on Sunday, masks must be worn in "virtually all indoor spaces&qu Read More...
Virus cases on remote Tasmanian islands
Date of Posting: 31-12-2021
Coronavirus cases have been recorded on remote King and Flinders Islands off Tasmania as the state registers another record daily infection tally. The state registered 137 new cases on Friday, bringing its number of active infections to 520.[subsc Read More...
New year, new COVID records for Victoria
Date of Posting: 31-12-2021
Victoria's record-breaking COVID-19 case numbers are expected to continue into the new year as the Omicron variant spreads. There were 5919 new infections announced on New Year's Eve, another daily record, and seven deaths.[subscribe] T Read More...
More changes to COVID-19 isolation rules
Date of Posting: 31-12-2021
Less than a day after announcing new COVID guidelines, the federal government has scrapped the need for infected people to take a day-six rapid test. On Friday the government announced positive cases - regardless of vaccination status - will be ab Read More...
WHO fears 'tsunami' of COVID cases
Date of Posting: 30-12-2021
The simultaneous circulation of the Delta and Omicron variants of the coronavirus is creating a "tsunami of cases", World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says. "Delta and Omicrom are now twin th Read More...
'Balanced approach' as NSW cases surge
Date of Posting: 30-12-2021
NSW has recorded 12,226 new cases of coronavirus as the premier charts a new "balanced approach" to surging case numbers while pathology labs catch up on testing. The state's new infections came as the results of 97,201 tests were re Read More...
New bowel cancer treatment on the PBS
Date of Posting: 30-12-2021
Australians living with aggressive bowel cancer will have access to a more affordable treatment after it was added to the medicine benefits scheme. More than 15,000 Australians are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year, 10 per cent of whom have a Read More...
Queensland scraps pre-travel PCR tests
Date of Posting: 29-12-2021
Queensland has caved to mounting political pressure and will allow interstate hotspot travellers to enter with a negative COVID-19 result from a rapid antigen test. "From January 1 travellers into Qld from interstate hotspots can use a negati Read More...
Victorians to get free rapid antigen tests
Date of Posting: 29-12-2021
Victorians will get access to 34 million free rapid antigen tests by the end of January. On the same day the state posted its highest COVID-19 daily infection tally, with 3767 new cases, the state government announced it will ramp up access to at- Read More...
Omicron may enhance Delta immunity
Date of Posting: 29-12-2021
Research by South African scientists suggests that Omicron infection enhances neutralising immunity against the Delta variant of the coronavirus. The study, which has not been peer-reviewed, found that people who were infected with Omicron develop Read More...
Spain COVID-19 infections soar after Xmas
Date of Posting: 28-12-2021
Spain's COVID-19 infection rate has exceeded 1000 cases per 100,000 people for the first time, stoked by the fast-spreading Omicron variant, although hospitals were under much less strain than in previous waves of the pandemic. The rate, measu Read More...
Push for rapid tests as queues continue
Date of Posting: 28-12-2021
States are being urged to use rapid antigen tests to screen cross border travellers amid continued congestion at COVID-19 clinics, as Queensland announces it will scrap a day five testing requirement. Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath an Read More...
Victoria records 2738 new COVID-19 cases
Date of Posting: 28-12-2021
Victorian travellers getting tested to cross state borders are being asked not to show up at testing sites until after midday in an effort to ease pressure on the system. The request comes as the state experienced a sharp uptick in COVID-19 infect Read More...
Tas seeks advice on rapid tests at border
Date of Posting: 27-12-2021
Tasmania will announce whether interstate travellers can take rapid antigen COVID-19 tests at its border instead of a pre-travel PCR test. The state recorded 35 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, a slight drop on the 44 reported on Boxing Day.[sub Read More...
WA detects new case linked to backpacker
Date of Posting: 27-12-2021
Western Australia has detected one new local COVID-19 case linked to an infected French backpacker who arrived in the state from Queensland. The new case also attended an busy event at Perth Mess Hall in Northbridge a week ago and was staying at a Read More...
Mystery COVID-19 case detected in Darwin
Date of Posting: 27-12-2021
The Northern Territory has detected 12 new COVID-19 cases as health authorities investigate a mystery case in Darwin. It was diagnosed overnight with NT Health saying little except the source of infection is under investigation.[subscribe] Two Read More...
Another COVID Christmas brings anxiety
Date of Posting: 26-12-2021
Christmas has been marked around the world amid a surge in COVID-19 infections that kept many families apart, overwhelmed hospitals and curbed religious observances as the pandemic was poised to stretch into a third year. Yet, there were homilies Read More...
Push for more skin cancer research dollars
Date of Posting: 26-12-2021
Investing in skin cancer prevention not only saves lives but could also significantly cut Australia's almost $2 billion treatment bill, experts say. While systemic melanoma treatments cost the federal government about $500 million in 2020-21, Read More...
Environmental link strong in Alzheimer's
Date of Posting: 26-12-2021
Knowing about abnormally configured proteins called amyloid plaques that gather in the spaces between nerve cells and how they come to aggregate there, probably isn't everyone's cup of tea. Thankfully though, researchers from the Universit Read More...
COVID disrupts Victorian Xmas Eve flights
Date of Posting: 24-12-2021
Dozens of domestic flights have been cancelled due to COVID-19, as Victoria records 2095 new cases and eight deaths. The flights, axed on Christmas Eve, will mean last-minute disappointment for thousands of travellers.[subscribe] About a dozen Read More...
Qld has 589 cases, told 'get COVID ready'
Date of Posting: 24-12-2021
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath has asked residents to "get ready for COVID" and prepare a care plan, after the state reported 589 new virus cases. A new COVID-19 care pathway was announced on Friday, with advice on how peopl Read More...
Third of junior doctors consider quitting
Date of Posting: 24-12-2021
Almost a third of junior doctors in Victoria's public hospitals have considered quitting during the pandemic, a survey has found. According to the snapshot by the Victorian branch of the AMA, 32 per cent of 1100 doctors surveyed have considere Read More...
Latest on worldwide spread of coronavirus
Date of Posting: 24-12-2021
EUROPE * France had its worst-ever day in terms of new cases, with more than 91,000 being recorded while the number of deaths also climbed.[subscribe] * Britain recorded a record number of new cases as the Omicron variant swept across the count Read More...
Greece bans public Christmas festivities
Date of Posting: 24-12-2021
Greece has banned public Christmas and New Year's Eve festivities and mandated mask-wearing in open spaces to help to curb the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, its health minister says. The measures will be in effect from Friday morn Read More...
Doctor warns of festive season eye hazards
Date of Posting: 24-12-2021
Whether it be flying champagne corks, stray Christmas tree branches or ill-fired toy guns, the outlook for Australian eyes isn't good this summer. Eye injuries typically increase over the holiday period as Australians became more active, Sydne Read More...
Victoria masks up to keep Omicron at bay
Date of Posting: 23-12-2021
Victorians young and old must don masks inside this holiday season under a reinstated mandate to curtail the spread of the Omicron variant. Two days out from Christmas and as the state recorded 2005 new coronavirus cases and 10 deaths, Acting Prem Read More...
