Australia faces record numbers of COVID-19 per omicron variable – 01/04/2022

Australia recorded nearly 50,000 cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, a historic number driven by the omicron variable that prompted residents to double their testing.

Deputy Medical Director Sonya Bennett said Australia had recorded 47,738 cases Corona Virus In the past 24 hours, compared to 38,000 cases on Monday, due to the spread of Omicron.

She said hospitals across the country are seeing 2,362 people infected with the coronavirus, nearly double the previous week. The number of people admitted to the intensive care unit is much lower, 184 people, 59 of whom are receiving ventilator assistance, as was the case a week ago.

“The number of cases continues to rise. These are numbers we haven’t seen in Australia,” Bennett said.

Although the spread of omicron has left a few patients seriously ill, it has led to a rush of home antigen testing and long lines of hours at PCR testing centers.

Australia has been able to quell infections almost completely during most of the pandemic, by adopting border closures and a fierce campaign of testing and tracing. However, its “zero covid” policy ended with an earlier wave of cases triggered by it delta variable.

Australia is now reliant on vaccination to protect its population, with 91.5% of those over 16 years of age fully vaccinated.

“I think we all now know someone who has Covid, have colleagues who are not working because they are in quarantine or isolation, or have other events and impacts on our daily lives,” Bennett said.

According to her, preliminary evidence reveals that the majority of intensive care patients contracted the delta variant, and many did not receive their full vaccinations.