On Friday, Australia reported at least 24 COVID-19 deaths, including seven each in New South Wales and Victoria. Western Australia's daily figures included two historical deaths.
Check the latest COVID-19 trends for new cases, hospitalisations and deaths in Australia here.
On Thursday, New South Wales reported its first case of Omicron sub-lineage BA.4 in a returned traveller from South Africa. The specimen was collected in the week ending 2 April.
Victorian authorities had reported a similar infection on 15 April. It was detected from wastewater samples taken from the Tullamarine catchment.
The World Health Organization is already tracking and monitoring BA.4 and BA.5 variants, which were first detected in South Africa and some European countries.
South African scientists say BA.4 and BA.5 seem to be associated with a resurgence in infections in the country.
"BA.4 and BA.5 have rapidly replaced BA.2, reaching more than 50 per cent of sequenced cases in South Africa from the first week of April 2022 onward," they said.
"There are early signs of rising hospital admissions in some provinces."
Victoria has stood down 420 public school teachers for allegedly not complying with the state's vaccine mandate. Most teachers are on leave without pay for not meeting the 25 March booster deadline.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews defended the move saying vaccination continues to save lives. Teachers in Victoria and the Northern Territory are mandated to take booster doses.
Queensland will stand down its specialist COVID-19 contact tracing team today. The team was hired as additional support for public health units in January last year. It traced more than 15,000 contacts. Public health units will focus on contract tracing in high-risk settings.
The NSW government has provided $300,000 in grants for 34 local groups and not-for-profits that delivered food and care hampers to regional communities during the height of 2021 COVID-19 restrictions.
Denmark has become the first country to suspend its COVID-19 vaccination program, claiming the virus has been brought under control.
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