Daily Covid-19 cases in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) surged on Wednesday as the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2 sub-variant continues to spread.
NSW reported 25,235 new cases on Wednesday, its second highest daily increase in the month of March, the first highest being a result of a backlog of cases earlier in the month, Xinhua news agency reported.
As the weather gets colder and the BA.2 variant, which is estimated to be 30 per cent to 40 per cent more transmissible than the original omicron strain, hospitalizations in the state have also grown steadily over the month.
On Wednesday 1,301 people were hospitalised with Covid-19.
Victoria also saw its highest single day increase with 11,749 new cases and seven deaths. There are currently 280 people hospitalised with the virus in the state.
Professor Nancy Baxter, head of the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne, told Xinhua that Australia is likely to see cases continue as the nation heads into the winter months and looks to live with Covid.
"There's a number of things converging to result in us probably having another significant wave [in the winter months]."
In preparation for the winter, Australia will roll out a fourth vaccine shot to the population's most vulnerable next month.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said they would be offered to people over 65 years of age, Indigenous Australians and people with a disability or who are severely immunocompromised from April 4.
--IANS
int/sks/svn/
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU