Australia Covid update: record cases on Christmas Day as infections surge in SA, NSW and Queensland

Record Covid cases were reported across Australia on Christmas Day as overwhelmed testing clinics were forced to close and tens of thousands of people spent the holiday in isolation.

New South Wales has recorded its highest ever Covid daily caseload, with 6,288 new infections announced on Saturday.

Covid transmission also continued to surge in Victoria, where authorities announced 2,108 new Covid-19 infections and six deaths from the virus.

The Australian Capital Territory also set a new daily infection record, with 142 Covid cases. It was the fourth consecutive day that the ACT broke its daily infection rate.

Tasmania recorded 33 new Covid cases, while health authorities in the Northern Territory announced 19 new cases, 10 of which were travellers from interstate.

Western Australia reported two new cases, following the five cases that were announced on Friday. Both of the new cases were linked to a French backpacker who arrived in the state from Queensland on Sunday.

There are now more than 30,000 active Covid cases in NSW and more than 17,000 in Victoria, with isolation orders wreaking havoc on Christmas gathering plans, while testing delays and Covid exposure among airline staff have stymied travel plans of thousands of travellers.

In NSW, the record 6,288 new cases were detected from 149,261 tests conducted in the reporting period to 24 hours to 8pm on Friday.

Hospitalisations remained relatively steady in the state, with 388 Covid patients in hospital on Saturday, up from 382 on Friday.

On Saturday there were 52 patients in intensive care in the state, down from 53 on Friday. Of those in ICU, 14 were on ventilators.

In Victoria, 2,208 cases were detected from 83,456 tests. Hospitalisations remained steady at 361, with 71 cases in ICU in Victoria.

At least six testing sites in Melbourne became so overwhelmed they had to close by 9.30am.

Other sites had long wait times, including a three-hour wait at the Melbourne Showgrounds drive-through. A number of other testing locations closed for Christmas Day.

Meanwhile in NSW, testing queues grew throughout the day. As Sydneysiders flocked to Bondi Beach to enjoy the warm weather, the queue of cars at the local drive-through testing clinic snaked around to the northern tip of the beach by late morning.

There were 123,500 Covid-19 vaccine doses administered across Australia on Christmas Eve, 94,072 of which were boosters.

With Australian Associated Press