The Omicron coronavirus variant continues to run rampant across Australia forcing its states to reimpose tough Covid-19 restrictions on Friday. New South Wales (NSW) recorded 38,625 fresh cases and 11 deaths forcing authorities to reimpose strict curbs, according to a report by News9 Australia.
Australia since the beginning of the week has seen record levels of daily infections. Australia reported close to 75,000 new Covid-19 cases and 17 deaths on Friday, registering a spike of more than 1,000 cases compared to Thursday. It currently has more than 430,000 active Covid-19 cases.
Victoria followed NSW as it also reported a surge in the number of cases. Home to megacity Melbourne, it reported 21,728 new cases. Victoria was followed by Queensland (10,953), Australian Capital Territory (1,246), South Australia (3,707) all of whom saw surge in the number of infections.
The NSW is home to at least 25 million residents and the city of Sydney will now shut down its nightclubs and cancel non-urgent surgeries due to rising numbers of cases, according to news agency Reuters who cited a report from the Sydney Morning Herald. The chief health officer of the NSW Dr Kerry Chant told news agencies that almost 50% of the cases recorded in the past week are in the 20 and 39-year-old age group.
Under these new measures, singing and dancing are banned at pubs and discos. Capacity limits have been placed in restaurants and pubs. All patrons have also been ordered to remain seated.
The NSW government also highlighted that due to record infections caused by the Omicron variant in the most-populous state of Australia testing facilities, clinics and hospitals have come under pressure. The New South Wales premier Dominic Perrotet told news agencies that it will make boosters mandatory for some workers and will make booster doses part of mandatory vaccination. Authorities said that hospitalizations doubled to a record 1,609 over the past week.
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