Sydney and the surrounding areas of New South Wales reported more than 11,000 new cases, 6,000 more than the day before. At the same time, a record 3,700 new cases were also reported in Victoria, which is a thousand more than the cases there a day earlier.
The country’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the government would now meet ahead of schedule on Thursday.
“As Omicron spreads, the pressure on us will continue to mount,” Morrison told reporters. States and territories are working on their plans to meet those challenges.
He said that he hoped that it would be clear in the meeting who should be considered close contacts of the infected and how to investigate in case of excessive increase in cases.
Cases are also increasing continuously in other states. More than 1,500 new cases have been reported in Queensland, 1,400 in South Australia, 138 in the capital region and 55 in Tasmania. Queensland health officials said that about 80 percent of patients in these cases are infected with ‘Omicron’.
Meanwhile, South Australia announced that it would make it mandatory for frontline health care workers to take ‘booster’ doses.
Head of State Steven Marshall said South Australia would no longer conduct ‘screening tests’ for interstate travel, as it no longer had such facilities.
“Omicron is spreading very fast,” Marshall said.
More than three-quarters of Australians have been fully vaccinated. In such a situation, how deadly this new form will prove to be, it cannot be said.
AP Niharika Netrapal
ophthalmologist
.