New South Wales has notched up another record daily number of COVID-19 cases with 3,763 people diagnosed, as testing clinics are inundated and Premier Dominic Perrottet prepares to meet national cabinet over the crisis.
The new cases were recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday from 151,443 tests.
That's a jump of 706 cases from the previous day's record of 3057 cases, from 136,972 tests.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 testing sites are not only overrun in NSW, but also in Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, and the ACT.
In NSW, there are 302 people in hospital with the virus - up from 284 - and 40 of them are in ICU, one more than the previous day.
The vaccination rate remains the same with 94.9 per cent of people aged 16 and older having had one dose, while 93.4 per cent of people are fully jabbed.
Some 81.5 per cent of people aged 12-15 have had one dose of a vaccine and 78.1 per cent have had both doses.
Another two people have died from the virus.
Mr Perrottet will raise the issue of the booster shot interval when national cabinet meets on Wednesday.
Leaders weren't supposed to reconvene until early next year but the prime minister called the meeting earlier this week due to the sharp increase in cases.
Currently, boosters are due five months after a second dose, but NSW wants that moved forward to four months or less.
Mr Perrottet, who is resisting calls to reimpose a mandate for waring masks indoors, said booster shots were key to curbing the spread of Omicron.
Close to 40 vaccination venues will remain open for the shots over the holiday period.
The premier acknowledged the long wait times for PCR tests in the days leading up to Christmas, with many anxious to get the all-clear to safely attend yuletide celebrations, while others need a negative result to travel interstate.
New modelling shows national COVID-19 case numbers could hit 200,000 a day in the next two months. Source: AAP
"I know it's been a challenge, I know there are queues, that is unfortunately the way when there's 140,000 tests occurring every single day," he said on Tuesday.
Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has urged asymptomatic people not to join the long queues at testing clinics, warning results could take up to 72 hours as labs are overwhelmed.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard says "tourism testing" it is putting testing clinics under extreme pressure and delaying results and he's asked other states to reconsider their testing requirements.
Earlier on Wednesday, the prime minister and chief medical officer downplayed new modelling by the Doherty Institute that suggested cases could surge to more than 200,000 a day by next month with no restrictions in place.
"The modelling that's been reported is a very unlikely, extreme case scenario that assumes that nobody does anything; nobody gets boosters, there are no changes that take place, no one exercises common sense," Mr Morrison told Sunrise.
"The chief medical officer and I just want to assure people that those sort of numbers aren't what we are expecting."
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly said presenting the worst-case scenario highlighted by the modelling "as the likely scenario that will occur is highly misleading."
"Early indications around hospitalisation, ICU admission and death show that Omicron could be far less than Delta and other variants ... after almost four weeks of Omicron in Australia, there are currently no confirmed Omicron cases in ICU and no deaths confirmed to date," Professor Kelly said.
Victorian cases grow as testing sites are overrun
Melbourne testing sites are again being overrun by holiday-makers and those exposed to COVID-19, as Omicron cases in the state rise.
The state reported 1,503 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday from 92,262 test results - the most processed in a 24-hour window since the pandemic began in early 2020.
The overwhelming demand for testing had forced at least 14 testing sites across the city to shut as of 9.45am.
They spanned from the east at Golfers Drive in Chadstone, southeast at Peninsula Health in Frankston and north at Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital.
In Melbourne, the Bourke Street walk-in remains shut but the Montague Street drive-through has reopened.
Albert Park's drive-through was also inundated, immediately suspending testing after opening, for a third straight day.
It has since reopened to incoming traffic, with an expected wait time of 90 minutes.
The state's COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said it was an exceptionally busy time, with more than a quarter of tests being conducted for people needing a negative result to travel interstate.
"That is part of the pressure that we have to deal with," he told reporters at Sandown Racecourse vaccination centre on Wednesday.
"That is also why we geared up our testing system over the last couple of months. We've added 55 per cent more capacity to our testing system since October.
"Those testing teams will be there on Christmas Eve, on Christmas Day and all the way through the holiday period."
Despite the long lines, Mr Weimar urged anyone with symptoms to come forward for a PCR test or take a rapid antigen test at home if they can source one.
Members of the public are tested at a pop up COVID-19 clinic in Melbourne's North, on Wednesday, 22 December. Source: AAP
Cases of the Omicron variant have jumped to 61, up from 37 on Tuesday, and the state is bracing for more.
Mr Weimar said the new strain would inevitably spread further in Victoria from NSW due to the high level of movement between the two states.
Victoria's active case numbers remain relatively stable at 13,888, as do hospitalisations and intensive care figures.
A further six Victorians have also died with COVID-19, taking the state's toll across the pandemic to 1,466.
ACT reports record daily rise in COVID-19 cases
The ACT has recorded its highest daily COVID-19 increase with 58 new infections.
It comes as testing clinics across Canberra are overwhelmed with demand ahead of Christmas.
Some of the testing clinics have been forced to close due to reaching capacity less than two hours after opening on Wednesday.
Wednesday's 58 cases amounts to the highest one-day COVID-19 total in Canberra. The previous high was 52 in early October.
Government clinics processed 6,966 results from Tuesday, making it the national capital's fourth highest testing day.
Mandatory masks have been brought back for indoor settings in the ACT including across retail, hospitality, workplaces and aged care.
Three people remain in hospital with the virus and none are in intensive care.
Canberra has 174 active infections. That number has nearly tripled in the past week.
Infections on the rise in Tasmania
Tasmania has recorded 12 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily number since it reopened borders a week ago.
The infections, reported on Wednesday, bring the island state's number of active cases to 26.
All of the active cases have been recorded since the island reopened to fully vaccinated travellers from the mainland on 15 December.
Eighteen cases are being managed at home, four are in a community case management facility and four are still being assessed or processed. None are in hospital.
The state government opened additional mobile testing clinics in Hobart and Launceston on Wednesday to deal with a spike in demand.
Premier Peter Gutwein has defended the state government's reopening plan, after the Greens called for Tasmania to again close to Victoria, NSW and the ACT.
"I can understand that there is some anxiousness and that's quite okay," he told reporters on Tuesday.
"As we move forward we need to learn to live with COVID. While some people would prefer us to stand still, we need to keep moving forward."
Tasmania on Tuesday implemented a mask mandate for all indoor venues, plus public transport and ride-sharing services.
More mask rules as Queensland records 186 cases
Queensland has reported a record daily total of 186 COVID-19 cases and tighter mask restrictions are on the way for cinemas and hospitality venues.
Speaking before a National Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said workers and patrons at theatres and cinemas will be required to wear masks from 5am on Thursday.
In hospitality venues such as pubs and restaurants, masks will only need to be worn by workers.
Masks are already mandated in supermarkets and shops as well as public transport and rideshares.
There is also the prospect that testing demands to enter Queensland will change in response to ballooning waiting times interstate as people try to abide by strict entry restrictions.
Currently those coming from interstate hotspots must get a test no more than 72 hours before arriving in the state, but the window is proving to be a challenge as waiting times for results blow out.
"Unfortunately a lot of people have been turned away, and it's becoming a big issue for people coming into the state," police commissioner Katarina Carroll told Channel Nine's Today Show on Wednesday.
"Further discussions will be had today about this issue."
With additional reporting by Eden Gillespie.
