Covid-19 cases surge in New South Wales as border rules eased
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Health officials collect Covid-19 swab tests at a drive-through testing site in Sydney on Dec 15, 2021.
PHOTO: AFP
SYDNEY (BLOOMBERG) - Australia's most-populous state reported a record 2,482 Covid-19 cases on Saturday (Dec 18), a day after easing international arrival rules for vaccinated travellers.
The infections in New South Wales are the highest daily caseload for any Australian jurisdiction since the beginning of the pandemic.
The Omicron variant likely accounts for the majority of today's cases and people should get booster shots as soon as they are eligible, New South Wales health authorities said in a statement.
Still, in a state of more than eight million people, only 206 people are hospitalised with Covid-19.
Twenty-six are in intensive care and one death was recorded.
The vaccination rate for the state is almost 95 per cent of those aged 16 and over.
New South Wales on Friday eased rules for international travellers and air crew arriving in Sydney.
They will no longer need to isolate for 72 hours and will only have to test negative after arrival, the state government said in a press release.
At least 100 recent high school graduates celebrating the end of the year in Byron Bay have been ordered to isolate after a virus case was detected, Nine News reported late on Friday.
The students have been banned from entering the popular beach town and are allowed to leave a locked down camping ground only if they are going home.
The neighbouring state of Victoria, meanwhile, is also scrapping isolation requirements for international arrivals, after reporting 1,504 new infections and seven deaths on Saturday. Some 384 people were hospitalised, with 84 in intensive care.
