It was another big day of coronavirus news across Australia, so let's quickly bring you up to speed on what you need to know.
NSW recorded its worst ever tally of cases
There were 633 new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8:00pm on Tuesday.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said three people with COVID-19 had died.
Of the new cases, 550 were in Western and south-west Sydney.
The Premier said there was particular concern about the virus spreading in the suburbs of Merrylands, Guildford, Auburn, Greenacre, St Marys and Strathfield.
Dozens of private hospitals have confirmed they are postponing non-urgent elective surgery from August 23, to send staff to assist with the NSW government's response to the outbreak.
Victoria reported another 24 locally acquired COVID-19 cases
Here's how Wednesday's cases break down:
- 20 of the cases are linked to existing clusters
- 18 were in quarantine while infectious
- There were 39,832 tests
- And 27,173 vaccines were administered
Melbourne's lockdown was tightened further overnight too. No trains, trams or buses will run between 1:00am and 5:00am on Saturdays and 1:00am and 6:00am on Sundays for the next two weeks.
There were another 22 cases in the ACT
All of the cases have been linked to the existing outbreak.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said 8,417 tests were conducted on Tuesday — a new record for the territory.
Mr Barr has called on Canberrans to look out for one another.
We got some good news out of the NT
There were no new locally acquired cases confirmed in the territory on Wednesday.
At this stage, 84 close contacts have been identified. All are in isolation. Another 480 casual contacts have also been told to self-isolate.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner said he was confident but not completely certain that the lockdowns in both areas would end at midday Thursday, as scheduled.
“At this point we are feeling good, we are confident we have caught this thing in time," he said.
And restrictions are easing in Queensland
From 4:00pm on Friday across 11 local government areas, 30 people will be allowed in homes and in public places, while up to 100 people will be able to attend funerals and weddings.
Masks won't be required outdoors where people can socially distance, but Queenslanders will still have to wear them indoors at all times.
The state recorded another day of zero locally acquired cases as well.
SA has finished an investigation into how a man escaped hotel quarantine
It found that flaws in medi-hotel security protocols allowed an international arrival to leave hotel quarantine for eight hours and attend a nearby pub and fast food outlet.
The investigation has identified nine recommendations for improving hotel quarantine, including reviewing how CCTV and fire escapes are monitored.
He has returned at least four negative COVID-19 tests.
Qantas is making coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for its workers
Frontline employees – including cabin crew, pilots and airport workers – will need to be fully vaccinated by November 15 and the remainder of employees by March 31.
There'll be exemptions for those with documented medical reasons, but those are expected to be rare.
Across the ditch… New Zealand says Delta came from Sydney
Prime Minister Jacinda Arden sent the whole of New Zealand into lockdown yesterday after a single coronavirus case was discovered. But testing overnight has uncovered nine more.
Ms Ardern said genome sequencing showed three cases were linked to the outbreak in Sydney.
All the infected people have the Delta variant.
The cases are the first community transmission in New Zealand in six months.
Victoria, the NT and Tasmania have all declared New Zealand high-risk.
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