A second elderly man has died with COVID-19 in the ACT this week, the 53rd person to die with the virus in the territory since the pandemic began.
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The number of new cases in the past 24 hours has jumped back up above the thousand mark, but the number in hospital has dipped.
ACT Health said on Tuesday morning: "Sadly, ACT Health has been notified of the death of a man in his 90s with COVID-19. ACT Health extends its sincere condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time."
The ACT reported the death of another man in his 90s on Monday.
The health authorities reported 1027 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday night. Just under half the new cases (462) were detected with PCR tests and just over half (565) with the rapid tests.
The new cases take the total number of cases in the ACT throughout the pandemic to 106,705.
Of the current cases, ACT Health said that 64 were in hospital (down two on Monday), and of those, four (up two) were in intensive care and none were on a ventilator (unchanged).
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ACT chief health officer Dr Kerryn Coleman on Sunday used a video update to warn the threat of COVID-19 was still very real.
Despite the high numbers, she said then that it was reassuring "numbers have remained quite steady in the past few months".
"We have seen and we will continue to see some ebb and flow in these numbers, but we still know that for the majority of people, the Omicron variant is mild and most people will feel better in three to seven days," Dr Coleman said.
Dr Coleman urged people to continue being "responsible for the actions we take to minimise transmission and exposure to others by being COVID-smart".
In NSW
NSW has recorded 9656 new COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths in the 24 hours to 4pm.
There are 1513 COVID-19 patients in hospital, with 71 in ICU.
Hospitalisation numbers are down on Monday, when 1656 patients were being cared for with 72 in ICU.
Of the new cases, 6068 came from positive rapid antigen tests while 3588 came from PCR testing.
Flu warning
Authorities are warning the easing of COVID-19 restrictions will see a spike in transmissions as well as a resurgence of flu this winter.
Acting Australian Chief Medical Officer Sonya Bennett warns that flu and COVID-19 are highly contagious viruses that can lead to serious illness, or even death.
"This year's winter season will likely see both an increase in transmission of the coronavirus and, for the first time since 2019, a resurgence in influenza," Dr Bennett said in a statement.
Everyone aged six months and over should get a flu vaccine.
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Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
