Covid cases spike in two Australian states

Sydney, December 28

Australia’s Victoria and Queensland states reported record levels of new Covid infections on Tuesday, as pressure on testing centres prompted calls for wider use of rapid antigen tests.

Queensland reported 1,158 cases, the first time the state has seen more than 1,000 cases in a day, but hospitalisations remained low. The state has more than 4,000 active cases of which 257 are reported to be the Omicron variant.

State Health Minister Yvette D’Ath announced on Tuesday that travellers from out of state will no longer have to have a PCR test five days after arrival. D’Ath said of the tens of thousands who had crossed the state’s borders recently, only 0.6 per cent had tested positive on day five.

Victoria state reported 2,738 new cases, beating the previous state record of 2,297 cases in mid-October.

Australia’s most-populous state, New South Wales, saw a slight fall in case numbers but that corresponded with fewer tests around Christmas Day. The state reported 6,062 new infections on Tuesday, down from 6,324 a day earlier. — AP

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