No Omicron in ACT as authorities contact 'small number' of people who have been in southern Africa

Territory health authorities on Sunday evening said they had identified people who may have been in one of the countries, and were contacting them to understand their movements before entering Australia and to ensure they understood their requirements under the latest public health direction.

No cases of the new variant of concern have been identified in the nation's capital as of Sunday evening.

ACT health authorities are closely monitoring the emergence overseas of the Omicron COVID-19 variant as they move to prevent its spread to Canberra.

The ACT government is reintroducing stricter quarantine rules for international arrivals in response to the Omicron strain, after it was first identified in southern Africa.

Meanwhile, the territory recorded seven new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday.

ACT Health on Sunday said seven people were hospitalised with COVID-19, five of whom were in intensive care, while four required ventilation. There are 162 active COVID cases, while the number associated with this outbreak now stands at 1993.

The percentage of the eligible population who are now fully vaccinated reached 97.6 per cent on Friday, with the next update on vaccination statistics due on Monday.

ACT Health said in a written statement late on Saturday night that no cases of the Omicron variant had been identified in the territory.

All international arrivals into the ACT after 11.59pm on Saturday will need to quarantine for three days, in a move health authorities said was precautionary.

Anyone in the ACT who has been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, the Seychelles, Malawi, Namibia or Eswatini in the past 14 days needs to get a PCR test for COVID-19 and quarantine immediately.

People who have spent time in those countries in the last 14 days will need to quarantine at their place of residence or accommodation until two weeks has passed since they were last in the listed country.

NSW Health on Sunday confirmed urgent genomic testing showed two overseas travellers who arrived in Sydney from southern Africa on Saturday evening had the Omicron variant. The two positive cases, who were asymptomatic, are in isolation in special health accommodation. Both people are fully vaccinated.

The Northern Territory has two new COVID-19 cases, including one arrival on a repatriation flight from South Africa where the new and heavily mutated Omicron variant has been detected. Authorities as yet have no genomic sequencing in relation to the passenger's infection strain.

NSW has recorded 185 local infections COVID-19 but no further virus-related deaths.

The state's hospitals continue to treat 165 coronavirus patients, 24 of them in intensive care units, and nine require ventilation.

Health officials say COVID testers processed more than 54,000 results in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday.

NSW is now 94.5 per cent single-dose immunised for everyone aged 16 or over, while 92.4 per cent of the same group are fully vaccinated.

Victoria has recorded 1061 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases and four more virus-related deaths.

Victoria continues to manage more than 11,330 active cases. There are 283 COVID patients in the state's hospitals, 44 of them in intensive care and 20 requiring ventilation.

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