Omicron was first reported on November 24, 2021, and a statement from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) about the COVID-19 Omicron variant said several outbreaks could be attributed to the strain.
Campaspe Shire had 10 new cases reported in the 24 hours leading to noon on Tuesday, December 21, bringing the shire’s tally to 67 active cases.
Neighbouring Greater Shepparton is also up to 67 cases and Greater Bendigo is at 77 cases, as numbers continue to rise with the surge in Victoria and NSW.
An outbreak in Lockington accounts for 29 of the Campaspe cases, with Echuca reporting just 10 active cases according to the Victorian Government website.
Rochester, which had a recent outbreak in the aged care facility of Rochester Elmore District Health Service, also has 10 active cases.
There are only two active COVID-19 cases in Kyabram.
The uptake of booster doses of coronavirus vaccines has increased, with about 1.1 million boosters delivered in Australia and a change made to the waiting period following the second vaccination, from six to five months.
Very limited data suggests that primary courses of COVID-19 vaccines provide lower protection against infections due to Omicron than those due to the Delta strain of the virus.
Data from the United Kingdom suggesting a higher vaccine effectiveness following booster doses is based on very small numbers of Omicron cases in vaccine recipients.
Victoria on Tuesday recorded 1243 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases, while the figure in NSW set a new national daily record with 3057 cases recorded, with the most concerning number being the increase in hospitalisations. That number increased by 23 in a single day, to 284, with 39 patients in intensive care.
There are only four active cases in the Murray River Council area.
The concern in NSW remains the amount of cases in some of the state’s most popular tourism destinations, such as Forster on the mid-north coast. It has 83 active cases, while active cases seem to be spreading south along the coast from Wollongong, which currently has 200 active cases.
The number of cases doubled overnight in the Illawarra area (which includes Shoalhaven).
Queensland on Tuesday recorded 34 new COVID-19 cases, after setting a new recent benchmark of 42 on Saturday. A majority of the cases in Queensland are the Omicron variant, with 80 per cent of positive tests being the Omicron strain.
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