For the second consecutive day Australia's daily COVID-19 cases have hit five figures. Australia crossed the unwanted milestone of 10,000 new COVID-19 infections on Monday and that figure, even without all the state's statistics being collated. States are being urged to use rapid antigen tests to screen cross border travellers amid continued congestion at COVID-19 clinics. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard smacked down his Queensland counterparts' approach, saying they are "effectively perverting the purposes of pathology testing" as travellers clog up the already overwhelmed system. Wait times in NSW have now blown out to the point that test results are no longer relevant, Brad Hazzard said. "It is taking up to four days, sometimes five days to get test results," he said. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet was more diplomatic: "NSW and Victoria are finding it very difficult at the moment because of the pressure on the testing system and a significant proportion of that are tourism tests." Testing blunders have added to the Christmas mayhem after one Sydney pathology service initially told almost 900 positive cases they were negative. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has accused Queensland of perverting the purposes of pathology testing as travellers seeking COVID-19 tests clog up the already overwhelmed system. It comes as the state reported another 6062 infections on Tuesday, down 172 on the day before. But the number of tests processed dropped again, down to about 93,500, compared to the 164,000 processed last Thursday. People travelling to Queensland are required to have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of coming to the state, which NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says is putting "incredible pressure" on the system. A NSW Health tweet from Tuesday morning confirms as much: There has been a sharp uptick in COVID-19 infections with 2738 cases and four deaths reported on Tuesday. It's a new single-day record for Victoria, well above the previous record of 2297 reported on October 14 this year. The number of active cases has also risen again to 17,821 after 66,683 people were tested. The number of active cases had fallen by nearly a thousand on Monday, to 16,467. Fewer people are now in intensive care - down from 80 to 69. Queensland has scrapped the controversial day five PCR tests for interstate visitors as the state's COVID-19 case numbers surge past 1000 for the first time since the pandemic began. Infections soared to 1158 on Tuesday, with the number of active cases rising to 4779 and 257 Omicron cases recorded. Only six people have been admitted to the hospital, with none in intensive care. The number of new cases was significantly higher than the 784 reported on Monday. The ACT has reported 252 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday, breaking the daily record for the second day in a row this week. The latest figures come after 189 cases were announced for the previous reporting period. The new cases bring the active total to 908. There were 2980 negative tests received in the 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday Tasmania has recorded 43 new coronavirus cases, its second highest daily infection tally since reopening borders about two weeks ago. The figures, reported on Tuesday, takes the state's number of active cases to 243. The majority, 142 cases, are being managed at home, while there are 60 people in community management clinics and one person in hospital for an unrelated medical condition. A further 21 people are still being assessed. South Australia has recorded 995 new cases of COVID-19 overnight with hospitalisations now at 36. Five people are in intensive care and one is on a ventilator. A teen who partied at an Adelaide nightclub despite knowing he had tested positive for COVID-19 has been arrested. Police nabbed the 19-year-old Kensington Park man on Tuesday and will allege he stayed at a nightclub in the city after being told by SA Health he'd returned a positive COVID-19 test result, and that he failed to quarantine. Police initially denied the man bail but he was later released after a review. He's expected to appear in Adelaide Magistrates Court on January 18. He faces up to two years behind bars or a $20,000 fine if convicted. The Northern Territory has recorded 16 new cases of COVID-19 overnight - nine in interstate arrivals and the remainder connected to a local outbreak. There is one person in intensive care and 20 more hospitalised. Western Australia has recorded zero new local COVID-19 cases out of almost 5000 tests, after the state extended its health restrictions. Three new cases were recorded in hotel quarantine on Tuesday, including two from overseas and one from interstate. A cluster linked to an unvaccinated 25-year-old French man who travelled to WA from Queensland now sits at 10 cases, including the index case. WA Health is now managing 23 active COVID-19 cases in the state and 665 close contacts, including 46 who are yet to be tested for the virus. - with AAP
