Christmas plans for thousands of NSW residents in ruins as Covid cases jump to new daily Australian record of 2,566 amid Omicron outbreak – but hospital numbers remain steady
Christmas plans for thousands of NSW residents are in ruins as Covid cases soar by 2,566, with another 21 admitted to hospital.
NSW Health confirmed the new infections on Sunday morning.
There are 227 people in hospital, 28 of whom are fighting for life in ICU.
No new deaths were recorded overnight on Sunday.
State authorities confirmed they will not announce new restrictions, but many fear their Christmas and new year plans could be left in tatters by the extraordinary spike in positive test results.
Everyone who tests positive must isolate for 14 days, and people who are deemed close contact of a positive case must isolate for seven days.
With only six days until Christmas, the rules will ruin celebrations for thousands of people across the country.
Covid cases soar by 2,566, with another 21 admitted to hospital in New South Wales. Pictured: People in Sydney on Saturday
There are 227 people in hospital, 28 of whom are fighting for life in ICU in NSW. Pictured: A testing centre on Bondi
There were 2,482 new infections and one death recorded on Saturday, which smashed Friday’s record of 2,213 cases.
While Victoria has also seen a consistent surge in new infections over the past week, the number dropped by about 200 on Sunday with 1,240 new cases.
Four people died overnight, and there are 392 people in hospital.
Victoria had 1,504 infections on Saturday, 1,510 on Friday and 1,622 on Thursday.
NSW and Victoria are set to lift the 72-hour isolation rules for international arrivals from December 21 – less than a month after authorities first imposed the rule.
The requirement was introduced on November 29 amid the global emergence of the hyper-contagious Omicron variant of Covid-19.
More to come
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