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The man accused of killing seven people and wounding dozens of others at an Independence Day parade outside of Chicago has admitted to authorities that he carried out the shooting, a prosecutor has said during the suspect's first court appearance.

Robert Crimo, the 21-year-old suspect facing seven counts of first-degree murder, appeared at the bond hearing via a video link from jail, two days after the attack in Highland Park, Illinois.

Dressed in black and wearing shoulder length hair, Crimo was denied bail by Judge Theodore Potkonjak.

Ben Dillon, a county prosecutor, told the court that the suspect confessed to the July Fourth attack after he was apprehended.

There was no plea entered at the hearing.

Crimo spoke only briefly to confirm that he did not have a lawyer.

A public defender was appointed to represent him.

"He does pose, in fact, a specific and present threat to the community," the judge said in ordering that Crimo remain jailed.

Highland Park is the latest US community forced to come to grips with a spasm of mass gun violence.

Authorities said on Tuesday that Crimo planned the Illinois attack for weeks before climbing up to his sniper's perch on a rooftop from an alley and firing more than 70 rounds using a semiautomatic rifle into parade spectators before making his getaway dressed in women's clothing and makeup to cover his facial tattoos.

At least seven people were killed and more than three dozen were hospitalised with gunshot wounds and other injuries after the shooting.

The suspect was arrested later on Monday when he was stopped by police at the wheel of his mother's car, which authorities said he had driven to Wisconsin and back to Illinois following the shooting.

A Smith & Wesson semiautomatic rifle, similar to an AR-15, used in the shooting was found at the scene, and Crimo had a similar weapon in his mother's car when arrested, according to county prosecutors.

If convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder, Crimo would face a mandatory life prison sentence without the possibility of parole, Eric Rinehart, the state's attorney for Lake County, said in announcing the charges on Tuesday.

Rinehart said more charges are expected against Crimo, whose next court appearance is scheduled for July 28.

In a news briefing following the bond hearing, Rinehart said authorities questioned the suspect after reading him his legal rights including the right to an lawyer.

"He went into details about what he had done," Rinehart said.

"He admitted to what he had done."

Investigators were reviewing videos Crimo had posted on social media containing violent imagery.

Crimo's parents said in a statement released by their lawyer that they are requesting privacy.

"We are all mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, and this is a terrible tragedy for many families, the victims, the paradegoers, the community, and our own," they said.

"Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to everybody."

Sergeant Chris Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Sheriff's office, said Crimo legally purchased five guns in all, rifles and pistols, despite having come to law enforcement's attention on two prior occasions for alleged behaviour suggesting he might harm himself or others.

The first instance was an April 2019 emergency 911 call reporting Crimo had attempted suicide, followed in September of that year by a police visit regarding alleged threats "to kill everyone" that he had directed at family members, Covelli said.

Police responding to the second incident seized a collection of 16 knives, a dagger and a sword amassed by Crimo in his home although no arrest was made as authorities at the time lacked probable cause to take him into custody, Covelli said.

Crimo slipped past the safeguards of an Illinois "red flag" law designed to prevent people deemed to have violent tendencies from getting guns.

State police said that the knives were returned to the family later in the day they were confiscated after the father told authorities they were his and stored in his son's closet for safekeeping.

State police acknowledged having received a report from local authorities declaring Crimo a "clear and present danger" after the alleged September 2019 threat to his family.

State police said they closed the matter after determining that Crimo at that time had neither a gun-owner's identification card to revoke nor an application to deny.

Neither of the 2019 incidents surfaced in four background checks conducted during his subsequent firearms purchases, they added.

© RAW 2022

Three thousand more Australians died in the first two months of this year than expected, but it wasn't all down to the unfolding Omicron wave of COVID-19, a new study shows.

Australia's health 2022, the 18th biennial health report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on Thursday, sheds new light on the wideranging damage COVID-19 has wrought on the nation.

The national excess mortality figure, the difference between actual deaths and the expected number based on previous trends, was down in 2020 and slightly up in 2021, before skyrocketing this year.

Taking into account statistical variation, 3105 more people died in Australia than expected in January and February after the emergence of the Omicron variant saw national daily cases explode past 100,000.

A high proportion of the excess deaths were attributed to COVID-19, along with larger than expected numbers for coronary heart disease (29 per cent), dementia (24 per cent), chronic lower respiratory conditions (23 per cent), stroke (20 per cent) and diabetes (14 per cent).

Nonetheless, COVID-19's case fatality rate fell from a peak of 3.3 per cent in October 2020 to 0.1 per cent in April 2022, reflecting the virus' increasing spread but easing severity amid new variants and the gradual vaccine take-up.

By the end of April, Australia had registered 5335 deaths from COVID-19 - 3107 of which came in 2022.

Some Australians were more likely to die than others.

People living in the country's poorest areas were almost three times more likely to die from the disease than those from the richest, while people born overseas were 2.5 times more likely to die than those born in Australia.

About 30 per cent of COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic have come from residential aged care, though rates have dwindled from 75 per cent in 2020 to 26 per cent in the first few months of 2022.

The rate of severe disease among Indigenous Australians during the Omicron wave was also 40 per cent higher than among the general population.

As swathes of the nation jumped in and out of lockdown, Australian adults and young people experienced higher levels of psychological distress.

The report cited research showing a 19 per cent rise in self-harm or suicidal ideation presentations in NSW emergency departments among people aged 10 to 24, from March 2020 to June 2021.

"While there has been a rise in the use of mental health services and an increase in psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic has not been associated with a rise in suspected deaths by suicide," it said.

Life satisfaction has similarly shifted, returning to pre-pandemic levels by January 2021 before falling by the Delta wave in August last year.

While too early to detect any fallout from delays to cancer screening and early detection services, AIHW deputy chief executive Matthew James said Australia will be dealing with the affects of COVID for "many years to come".

"In 2022, no health issue stands above, or has had as wide-reaching impacts on our population and health system," he said.

OTHER KEY STATS

* 81.2 years life expectancy for boys born from 2018 to 2020, 85.3 years for girls

* Almost 11.6 million Australians had one or more common chronic health condition in 2020-21

* 67 per cent of Australians are either overweight or obese.

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© AAP 2022

Australia is expected to follow other parts of the world in expanding eligibility for a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose to the wider population.

The expectation comes as Pfizer took a step towards rolling out two new vaccines which target the Omicron variant.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration announced on Wednesday it had granted two provisional determinations to Pfizer Australia for its vaccines Comirnaty Omicron and Comirnaty Bivalent.

It means Pfizer is now able to apply to the TGA for provisional registration of the two vaccines and seek authorisation to bring them to market.

As the nation grapples with rising case numbers, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says immunisation experts will look at available evidence before making a recommendation on a broader fourth dose rollout.

"The pandemic isn't over, so my view is that (Australia) will inevitably follow what has occurred in other parts of the world and roll out a further booster shot," he told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.

"I'd encourage people who haven't had their booster shots to go out there if they're eligible and do it as a matter of urgency."

A fourth dose is currently available for Australians aged 65 and older and vulnerable people.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) was expected to discuss the benefits of expanding the fourth dose eligibility at its meeting on Wednesday.

The Australian newspaper reported on Wednesday night that ATAGI will recommend fourth doses for anyone over the age of 50, and allow anyone over the age of 30 to have another booster shot if they wish to have one.

But federal Health Minister Mark Butler told Radio 3AW he did not expect to get ATAGI's official advice on extra booster shots until Friday after the group had worked on the details of their decisions.

Queensland's chief health officer John Gerrard said the new wave of BA4 and BA5 subvariants of the virus, which can evade both natural and vaccine immunity, is not expected to peak until late July or early August.

"It's very likely that either you or someone you know close to you will be infected, it will be very common, so my message is it's important for you to prepare now," he said, urging the take-up of boosters.

Victoria has extended its pandemic declaration by three months until at least October 12.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard also warned that anyone who isn't fully vaccinated is "crazy" as the state braces for a third wave to peak.

On Wednesday, there were 3781 people with COVID-19 in hospitals across the country, the highest level since the height of the Omicron wave in February.

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff used a media conference to "strongly recommend" the use of masks in indoor public spaces.

LATEST 24-HOUR COVID-19 DATA:

Victoria: 10,056 cases, 23 deaths, 523 in hospital with 29 in ICU

NSW: 13,775 cases, 10 deaths, 1822 in hospital with 64 in ICU

Tasmania: 1700 cases, one death, 79 in hospital with two in ICU

Queensland: 5878 cases, four deaths, 705 in hospital with 18 in ICU

ACT: 1477 cases, no deaths, 135 in hospital with five in ICU

WA: 6296 cases, one death, 226 in hospital with eight in ICU

SA: 4072 cases, five deaths, 267 in hospital with 11 in ICU

NT: 342 cases, no deaths, 24 in hospital with one in ICU

© AAP 2022