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Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews is off the federal election campaign trail for at least a week after contracting COVID-19.

Ms Andrews tested positive on Tuesday afternoon after experiencing mild symptoms.

"I'll be working from home and will be back on the campaign trail in person as soon as I can," the Liberal MP for the Queensland seat of McPherson posted on Twitter on Wednesday.

The news comes a day after Labor's home affairs spokeswoman and candidate for the NSW lower house seat of Fowler, Kristina Keneally, tested positive for the virus and went into isolation for seven days.

The federal election will be held on May 21.

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised that the level of COVID-19 community transmission could be a lot higher than official numbers show due to the incorrect use of rapid antigen tests.

The head of Pathology Technology Australia says RATs are particularly accurate during a person's infectious phase but he remains worried that people aren't properly administering the tests.

"This is unsurprising given the public was told for months these tests weren't accurate enough for Australia, only for them to suddenly become a crucial diagnostic tool," Dean Whiting said.

"There hasn't been sufficient time to adequately inform (the public)."

A negative result shouldn't be interpreted as being COVID-free, the CEO said, with repeat tests needed to ensure accuracy.

Epidemiologist and public health emergency management specialist Henning Liljeqvist often sees people failing to correctly extract samples or apply drops as per the test instructions.

"I think it would be good to address the importance of not eating, drinking, brushing teeth or rinsing mouth before oral swabs also," he said.

It comes as daily case numbers in Australia had a slight uptick despite appearing to be on a downward trend.

There were almost 48,000 new cases on Tuesday, bucking a four-day consecutive drop in numbers which culminated with 41,806 new infections on Monday.

But there was a significant spike in deaths on Tuesday, with the death toll rising by 40, compared to five on Monday.

LATEST 24-HOUR COVID-19 DATA FROM ACROSS AUSTRALIA:

NSW: 18,265 cases, eight deaths, 1583 in hospital, 71 in ICU

Tasmania: 1839 cases, three deaths, 48 in hospital, one in ICU

Victoria: 10,907 cases, 14 deaths, 391 in hospital, 19 in ICU

© AAP 2022

A masked gunman has set off a smoke bomb and opened fire in a New York subway car, injuring at least 17 people and prompting officials to renew calls for steps to combat a surge of violence on the city's transit system.

Police said the perpetrator, believed to have acted alone, fled the scene.

The attack unfolded as a Manhattan-bound subway train on the N line was pulling into a station in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighbourhood, setting off an intense manhunt.

Ten people were hit directly by gunfire, including five hospitalised in a critical but stable condition.

Authorities said seven others were injured by shrapnel or otherwise hurt in the chaos as panicked riders fled the smoke-filled subway car and poured onto the platform of the 36th Street station.

The suspect was described by police as a man of heavy build, wearing a green construction-type vest and a hooded sweatshirt.

Fox News and local TV station WNBC reported the New York City Police Department later located a van with Arizona license plates that authorities had been looking for in connection with the shooting. The suspect remained at large.

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the shooting was not being investigated as an act of terrorism, although authorities would not rule anything out as a motive.

Sewell said the suspect was seen donning a gas mask in the train car as it was about to enter the station, then removed a canister from his bag and opened it.

"The train at that time began to fill with smoke. He then opened fire, striking multiple people on the subway and in the platform," she said.

Outside the station, in an area known for its thriving Chinatown and views of the Statue of Liberty, authorities shut down a dozen or so blocks and cordoned off the immediate vicinity.

John Butsikares, a 15-year-old who passed through the 36th Street station soon after the incident, said the train's conductor ordered everyone on the station platform to get on board.

"I didn't know what happened. It was a scary moment. And then at 25th Street (the next station) we were all told to get off," he said.

"There were people screaming for medical assistance."

New York, the nation's most populous city, has seen a sharp rise in violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a string of seemingly random attacks on its subways.

The subway violence has included a number of attacks in which passengers have been pushed onto the tracks from platforms, including a Manhattan woman whose murder was seen as part of a surge in hate-driven attacks against Asian Americans.

Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain who took office in January, has vowed to improve subway safety by increasing police patrols and expanding outreach to the mentally ill.

Speaking to CNN, Adams said Tuesday's incident "was a senseless act of violence" and pledged to double the number of officers on subway patrol.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul pledged "the full resources of our state to fight this surge of crime, this insanity that is feeding our city."

Transit investigators found containers with gasoline and additional, unused smoke canisters on the train carriage, television station WNBC reported, citing city transit sources.

CNN, citing law enforcement sources, said multiple high-capacity ammunition magazines and fireworks were found in the subway station with the gun, which apparently jammed.

Speaking on a radio interview, Adams confirmed media reports of "some form of malfunction" in the station's security camera system, which could hamper the investigation.

How many cameras were affected was not immediately clear, he said.

However, investigators obtained cell phone video from an eyewitness that shows the suspect, a law enforcement source told CNN.

© AP 2022

Police have mounted a manhunt for a gunman who set off two smoke bombs and opened fire in a New York subway car, injuring at least 20 people in a morning rush-hour attack.

Police said the gunman was believed to have acted alone and immediately fled the crime scene.

The attack unfolded as a Manhattan-bound subway train on the N line was pulling into an underground station in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighbourhood.

Ten people were hit directly by gunfire, with five of those hospitalised in critical but stable condition, authorities said.

Police said 13 more people suffered from smoke inhalation or were otherwise injured in the chaos as panicked riders fled the smoke-filled subway car.

Some collapsed to the pavement as they poured onto the platform of the 36th Street station. The fire department said two of those hurt were treated at the scene.

All of the victims were expected to survive their injuries, police said.

New York Police Department Commissioner Keechant Sewell said a hired U-Haul van believed to be connected to the shooting was later located in Brooklyn, but the perpetrator remained at large several hours after the incident.

At an early evening news briefing, police named a "person of interest" in the investigation as Frank James, who investigators said had rented the U-Haul vehicle.

Police said they recovered the key to the van at the crime scene and it had been rented in Philadelphia. James had addresses in Philadelphia and Wisconsin, officials said.

The subway assailant was described by police from eyewitness accounts as a man of heavy build, wearing an orange vest, a grey sweatshirt, a green helmet and surgical mask.

The commissioner said the attack began in the train car as it was about to enter the station. The gunman removed two canisters from his bag and opened them, sending smoke throughout the train car.

Police said the man then fired 33 rounds from a Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun, which was later recovered along with three extended ammunition magazines, a hatchet, some consumer-grade fireworks and a container of petrol.

Sewell said earlier the shooting was not being immediately treated as an act of terrorism.

There was no known motive for the attack, but investigators found a number of social media posts linked to an individual named Frank James that mentioned homelessness and the New York City mayor, Sewell said.

© AP 2022