Four people die with COVID in Canberra

ACT Health has notified of the deaths of a man in his 70s, a woman in her 80s and two men in their 80s.

ACT recorded 296 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday, a slight increase from 258 the day prior.

While new daily infections have trended down recently, COVID-related hospitalisations remain relatively high.

There were 116 people with COVID being treated in Canberra's hospitals at the time of the last health report.

Of the people hospitalised, three were in ICU, with none requiring ventilation.

Of the 296 new cases of COVID-19 detected in the ACT, 183 were recorded via PCR while 113 were from the rapid antigen test. There are 1512 active cases.

Nearly 78 per cent of the population aged 16 and over have received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 55.2 per cent of people aged 50 and over have received a fourth shot. Canberra's pandemic-wide caseload went above 200,000 cases over the weekend.

Around Australia, more than 2190 people have died from COVID in the last 30 days, with 14 people having died in NSW alone, in the latest 24 hour reporting period.

NSW Premier Dominic Perottet has flagged a reduction in the seven day required isolation period, ahead of the next national cabinet meeting on August 31.

The ACT government has not indicated it will support a change to five days, however, health authorities are eager to maintain consistency across jurisdictions.

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NSW Health reported 1867 people were in hospital with the virus on Wednesday, with 38 people in ICU. There was 6690 positive cases reported in NSW in the past 24 hours

Nationally, Australia is on track to record its 10 millionth case within a week. The country has surpassed 13,400 deaths.

The grim milestones have prompted some health experts to warn Australia was losing its battle with the virus.

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