'Gear change' in Australia's strategy as infections hit record high

SYDNEY • Australia's Covid-19 infections surged to a fresh record yesterday due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, overwhelming testing facilities in the country's most populous state.

Australia reported a record 16,500 cases yesterday as New South Wales and Victoria - home to more than half of Australia's near 26 million people - clocked their biggest daily rise in infections, eclipsing the previous high of around 11,300 on Tuesday.

Daily cases in New South Wales, the state that has been worst hit by the Omicron variant, nearly doubled to 11,201 versus 6,062 on Tuesday, while cases in Victoria jumped more than 1,000 to 3,776. South Australia registered 1,471 cases, a new pandemic high.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday that Australia needed "a gear change" to manage overburdened laboratories and get people out of isolation.

He has called for a snap meeting of the national Cabinet today.

"We just can't have everybody just being taken out of circulation because they just happen to be at a particular place at a particular time," Mr Morrison said during a media briefing.

The Prime Minister's plan would prioritise clinically urgent cases, in a bid to cut long lines at test sites and the wait for laboratory results, which can currently take three to four days.

REUTERS