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More than 11,100 Australians have died with COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

The country's death toll rose by more than 100 on Saturday, with Victoria recording the most fatalities at 44.

NSW reported 41 deaths, while Queensland recorded eight, South Australia and the ACT three, and Western Australia two.

Tasmania reported one death of a person with COVID-19, while the Northern Territory recorded none.

The daily toll pushed the country's coronavirus deaths since the pandemic to 11,134.

As of Saturday, a little more than 71 per cent of Australia's eligible population had received three or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

That was an increase of more than 9500 people on the previous day, with booster coverage among aged care residents at 95 per cent.

About 55 per cent of eligible Indigenous people have received three or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

As for fourth doses, about 31 per cent of the eligible population aged 30 and over have received their winter boosters.

That figure hiked up to more than 65 per cent for those aged 65 and over.

It represented an overall daily increase for all eligible groups of nearly 91,500 people.

© AAP 2022

The World Health Organisation said the expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an "extraordinary" situation that qualifies as a global emergency.

The WHO's declaration on Saturday could spur further investment in treating the once-rare disease and worsen the scramble for scarce vaccines.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the decision to issue the declaration despite a lack of consensus among members of the WHO's emergency committee.

It was the first time the chief of the United Nations health agency has taken such an action.

"In short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations," Tedros said.

"I know this has not been an easy or straightforward process and that there are divergent views among the members" of the committee, he added.

Although monkeypox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, it was not known to spark large outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread widely among people until May, when authorities detected dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere.

Declaring a global emergency means the monkeypox outbreak is an "extraordinary event" that could spill over into more countries and requires a coordinated global response.

The WHO previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio.

The emergency declaration mostly serves as a plea to draw more global resources and attention to an outbreak.

Past announcements had mixed impact, given that the UN health agency is largely powerless in getting countries to act.

Last month, the WHO's expert committee said the worldwide monkeypox outbreak did not yet amount to an international emergency but the panel convened this week to re-evaluate the situation.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 74 countries since about May.

To date, monkeypox deaths have only been reported in Africa, where a more dangerous version of the virus is spreading, mainly in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In Africa, monkeypox mainly spreads to people from infected wild animals like rodents, in limited outbreaks that typically have not crossed borders.

In Europe, North America and elsewhere, however, monkeypox is spreading among people with no links to animals or recent travel to Africa.

As of July 19, Australia had reported 41 confirmed or probable cases of monkeypox, with the majority in NSW (22) and Victoria (15).

The WHO's top monkeypox expert, Dr Rosamund Lewis, said this week that 99 per cent of all the monkeypox cases beyond Africa were in men and that of those, 98 per cent involved men who have sex with men.

Experts suspect the monkeypox outbreaks in Europe and North America were spread via sex at two raves in Belgium and Spain.

Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at Southampton University, said it was surprising the WHO had not already declared monkeypox a global emergency, explaining that the conditions were arguably met weeks ago.

Some experts have questioned whether such a declaration would help, arguing the disease isn't severe enough to warrant the attention and that rich countries battling monkeypox already have the funds to do so; most people recover without needing medical attention, although the lesions may be painful.

"I think it would be better to be proactive and overreact to the problem instead of waiting to react when it's too late," Head said.

© AP 2022

Brisbane have dashed the AFL finals hopes of Gold Coast and remain in the box seat for a top-four spot, winning a see-sawing Queensland derby at the Gabba by 17 points.

Trailing at the end of the second and third quarters, the Lions kicked five goals to one in the fourth term to claim a hard-fought 16.14 (110) to 14.9 (93) win on Saturday night.

It's the first time since round nine the Lions have won back-to-back games and they return to third spot, two points clear of Fremantle after the Dockers' draw with Richmond on Friday night.

"The game could have gone any way at three-quarter time and I thought our players showed really good composure and calmness," Lions coach Chris Fagan said.

"They played together as a team in the last quarter. No-one tried to win it off his own boot or anything like that. It was all all done in the right way.

"We stood up to a good pressure test, I reckon, in that quarter."

Joe Daniher and Charlie Cameron kicked three goals each for the Lions, with Rhys Mathieson and Lincoln McCarthy managing two majors apiece.

For the Suns, Levi Casboult finished with four goals while debutant Elijah Hollands kicked two as did Mabior Chol and Brandon Ellis.

Touk Miller was a standout with a game-high 34 disposals, seven tackles and four clearances to win the Marcus Ashcroft Medal as best-on-ground for a third time.

Brisbane star Lachie Neale had 32 touches and 10 clearances in a typically all-action display for the Lions while defender Brandon Starcevich and midfielder Hugh McCluggage were also impressive.

"Look, our boys had a go, we're really proud of that," Suns coach Stuart Dew said after an eighth straight loss to the Lions.

"Brisbane are a quality side. Very clinical. They don't give you any easy ones. We gave them quite a few easy ones.

"We've really got to tidy up on that and keep working on that but in terms of physically where we've been in these clashes before, we made a real note to not get beaten in that area.

"I feel like we didn't. It just didn't translate to the scoreboard."

The hosts made a fast start when Daniher and Cameron both scored early goals but Hollands' goal with his first touch in AFL football sparked the Suns.

Cameron's second meant Brisbane held an eight-point lead at the first turn before the Suns took control in the second quarter on the back of inspirational work by Miller.

Hollands mixed the good with the bad, taking a defensive mark before his kick near the goal square was smothered by Daniher, who slotted his second.

It was all Suns after that, with the visitors kicking three unanswered including one to David Swallow in his record-breaking 193rd appearance for the club to hit the front for the first time in the game.

When Hollands' kicked the second of his debut match, the Suns were seven points clear and held onto a goal lead at the main break.

A thrilling third quarter featured a number of lead changes as both teams kicked five goals each, Chol's second of the night seconds before the siren putting the Suns seven points clear at the final turn.

Daniher's third early in the final quarter, breaking an Ellis tackle, levelled the scores again before the Lions kicked clear to secure the win.

The Lions travel to Melbourne to take on Richmond next weekend while the Suns host West Coast at Metricon Stadium.

© AAP 2022