COVID-19 Update: 93 lives lost nationally in record daily death toll

This is your update on the Coronavirus in Australia for January 28.

Paramedics tending to their ambulance outside St. Vincent hospital in Melbourne. Source: AAP

Australia has reported another 93 COVID-19 deaths, the highest number in any 24-hour period since the beginning of the pandemic.
Teenagers who are 16 and 17 will soon be able to get a COVID-19 booster shot after regulators granted provisional approval for the Pfizer vaccine. Previously only adults were eligible for a booster shot.
Health experts are still considering whether to expand the definition of “fully vaccinated” to mean three COVID jabs, following calls from Victorian and NSW politicians.
Peak Indigenous bodies in the Northern Territory have penned an open letter to the Chief Minister calling for an immediate lockdown across central Australia to stop the spread of COVID-19.
At the 65th meeting of national cabinet yesterday, states and territories reported that pressure on hospital and intensive care admissions was slowly decreasing.
Back to school planning is well underway in many states, NSW has confirmed every school returning to classrooms next week have their allocation of rapid antigen tests and new bus and train services have been announced.
While in Victoria, 2 million rapid antigen tests have been delivered to state, Catholic and independent schools. A total of 6 million are expected to be delivered before school returns.
However, in Queensland, parents, teachers and students are still waiting for the state’s back to school plan to be released.
Queensland has recorded its highest ever COVID death toll, 18 people died in the reporting period, 12 of them in aged care facilities.
NSW government modelling shows the number of seriously ill people in ICU has been below "best case" scenarios and hospitalisations are expected to trend down next week.

COVID-19 Stats:

NSW recorded 35 deaths, while 2,737 are in hospital and 189 in ICU. There were 13,333 new infections reported.

There were 39 deaths reported in Victoria, 988 hospitalisations and 114 patients in ICU. There were 12,755 new cases in Victoria.

In Queensland there are now 818 people in hospital and 54 are in intensive care units. There were 9,974 new infections reported and 18 deaths.

Tasmania has recorded 584 new COVID-19 cases, the state's lowest daily figure since 3 January. There are 19 people are in hospital and one person in intensive care.

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