Covid in Australia: New South Wales reported nearly doubling in infections to 11,201.
Sydney:
Australia will seek immediate changes to COVID-19 testing rules to ease pressure on testing sites as infections rise and the country’s most populous state reported a nearly doubling of daily cases.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday that Australia needed “a gear change” to manage testing requirements, which qualifies as a close contact and the discharge of workers exposed to the virus. He called an urgent meeting of the national cabinet on Thursday.
“We can’t take everyone out of vogue just because they’re in a particular place at a particular time,” Morrison said during a media briefing.
Morrison’s proposed rules on close contacts could mean most people don’t need to undergo PCR tests or self-isolate, cutting long lines at testing sites and waiting 72 to 96 hours for lab results Is.
Several countries, including the United States and Britain, have shortened the recommended isolation time for asymptomatic cases.
The proposal on the new testing requirements comes as Queensland has promised to ease rules for interstate travelers with domestic arrivals, who need only a negative rapid antigen test result, instead of a PCR test, to gain entry from 1 January. Morrison said $375 million ($271 million) would be used to buy millions of additional rapid antigen testing kits.
Queensland’s so-called “tourism test” faced strong criticism from New South Wales, as holiday travelers crowded its testing centres, delaying results by several days.
“this is madness”
Even with rising infections, some testing centers in Sydney were closed after public holidays and those that were open had long walks and drive-in queues.
“It’s madness,” Hayden Anderson, 44, who is battling liver cancer, told Reuters. “Why are all testing centers closed?”
Anderson had a PCR test after he was caught with a friend just before Christmas tested positive. When he went for a follow-up test, the site was closed.
After seeing long lines at other testing centres, he agreed to a rapid antigen test at home, but with the rising number of cases he is concerned that he may struggle to get the PCR test as needed, before his next chemotherapy appointment on January 11. Can do.
“It’s like a tightrope right now,” he said.
Australia is in the grip of an outbreak of the highly contagious Omicron variant, with the country’s new daily infections rising to nearly 18,300, eclipsing the previous pandemic of nearly 11,300 hit on Tuesday.
Cases in most states climbed to a one-day record with New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state and home of Sydney, reported a near doubling in infections to 11,201.
Despite the rapid spread of the Omicron version, Morrison has so far ruled out a lockdown, urging people to focus on the number of patients admitted to hospitals.
While there have been hospitalizations, they are still far from the peak of the delta wave.
Despite Omicron and Delta waves, Australia’s COVID-19 numbers are still among the lowest in the world with nearly 341,500 cases and 2,210 deaths, due to strict social distancing rules and strict border restrictions. But most states have now started living with the virus following higher vaccination levels.
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