The Australian state of Victoria has recorded 860 new Covid-19 cases and five deaths, while New South Wales recorded 165 new cases and one death.
Photo: 2021 Anadolu Agency
Today's daily case count is the lowest recorded in Victoria since 26 September, when the state recorded 845 cases, 695 of which were local.
There are now 17,518 active cases of the virus in Victoria, and 416 people have died in the state during the current Delta outbreak.
There are 378 people in hospital with the virus, of whom 78 are in intensive care and 48 are on a ventilator.
The health department said a further 71 people are in intensive care, but their Covid-19 infections are no longer considered active.
The new cases were detected from 48,104 test results received yesterday.
There were 5030 doses of vaccine administered at state-run sites yesterday, as well as more vaccinations at GP clinics and other venues.
Queensland partially reopens border to interstate travel
Meanwhile, New South Wales recorded 165 new community Covid-19 cases and one death in the 24-hour period to 8pm yesterday and Queensland reported no new locally acquired cases.
The Queensland government today brought forward the opening of the state's border to some fully vaccinated travellers from interstate Covid-19 hotspots, with people able to apply for border passes from 5pm today.
The state has just passed a 70 percent double vaccination rate for those over 16, which is the first milestone as part of the state's roadmap to fully reopening the borders and living with the virus.
Amendments expected to controversial pandemic bill
The Andrews government's pandemic bill is due to be debated in state parliament's upper house this week, with several amendments reportedly being considered.
Greens MP Tim Read said there was "room for improvement" in the bill, and he believed the government was moving to address some of the concerns about the legislation.
"The bill will never be perfect, it does have flaws, some of those flaws it sounds like are going to be fixed with amendments this week and that's fantastic," he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
Read said there was a danger if the bill was not passed this week that emergency powers due to expire in a month would be extended.
"This bill has far more transparency, accountability, and oversight than the emergency powers. I can't see how any opponent of this bill would want the emergency powers prolonged."
Victoria's Equal Opportunities and Human Rights Commissioner Ro Allen said they broadly supported the bill, but had concerns that elements ignored the charter of human rights.
"It's just not specific and you want a bill to be there for a long time and be really clear in black and white that the minister has to be accountable to the charter," they said.
The commissioner said they had concerns around a section of the bill that would allow the government to make pandemic rules that target specific groups based on factors like age or gender.
"The unavoidable consequences of things being done quickly is that you can misinterpret these things and it could be used differently down the track," they said.
- ABC
