New South Wales has recorded 1035 new Covid-19 cases - a new daily record for the state, and the largest number ever recorded by an Australian jurisdiction in a 24-hour period.
People wait in a queue for their Covid-19 vaccination in Sydney. Photo: AFP
There were 129,182 tests conducted in the last 24 hours.
Two more deaths have also been reported in NSW.
"Sadly, very sadly, we had two people pass away to 8pm last night," Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
"One was a lady in her 70s, she passed away at Nepean Hospital.
"There was also a lady in her 80s who passed away in Westmead Hospital.
"I want to express my sympathies and the sympathies of the entire New South Wales Health system and our government to the families of those two ladies. It's a terrible situation."
A total of 156,165 people received a Covid-19 vaccination in NSW yesterday, a new record for the state.
"Thank you to all of our residents who have come forward for a vaccination. As we have said many times, vaccination is a critical path out of our current situation," Hazzard said.
Victoria records 64 new cases of Covid-19 as outbreak continues spread
Victoria has recorded 64 new locally acquired Covid-19 infections, as the outbreak continues its spread into regional areas.
Melbourne experiences its sixth lockdown while battling an outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid-19. Photo: AFP
Thirty-six of the new cases were in quarantine for the duration of their infectious periods, and 49 of the cases have been linked to existing outbreaks.
State-run clinics administered 35,753 doses of vaccine, bringing the total number of vaccine doses administered to 2,324,198.
There were 55,333 test results received in 24 hours.
Melbourne's western suburbs remain a key area of concern for authorities.
Barakat International Goods in Hoppers Crossing has been identified as a new tier 1 site, with a positive COVID case attending the store every day from August 16 to 23, with tier 2 sites identified at supermarkets in Footscray and Laverton North.
Contact tracers are also racing to cordon off the outbreak in Shepparton in the state's north-east. Drive-through testing facilities were at capacity in Shepparton and nearby towns.
The identification of a positive case in an Echuca aged care worker put the regional community on high alert during the week, with 40 staff at the Wharparilla Lodge facility furloughed as a result.
However, the chief executive of the facility has since confirmed the case was a false positive.
Meanwhile, Queensland has reported no new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 today.
There were 11,450 tests conducted in the state over the past 24 hours.
In Western Australia, contact tracing is underway after two truck drivers entered the state from New South Wales while infectious.
Four contacts have been identified, but it's not believed they were infectious in the community.
The latest figures for New South Wales are expected around 1pm today.
Babysitting crackdown
New directions introduced by Victoria's Chief Health Officer late on Thursday evening have clamped down on grandparents babysitting their grandchildren.
Covid response commander Jeroen Weimar said at a Friday press conference the crackdown was necessary to bring numbers down.
"For many people, if your nan looks after your kid every Tuesday and that's a normal thing, you may regard that as part of your normal household activity and [think] that's OK. At this point in time, it's not," Mr Weimar said.
"Just because your child is eight and goes to see his nan doesn't mean he doesn't take the virus with him."
He confirmed some positive cases in the current outbreak had come as a result of house-to-house transmission.
- ABC
