Canberra Jan. 21 (BUS): Australia on Friday declared its deadliest day of the pandemic with 80 deaths from the coronavirus, as the omicron variant outbreak continued to take a heavy toll, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
But Dominic Perrottet, premier of the most populous state of New South Wales, said a small drop in hospital admissions gave him some hope about the strain the outbreak is placing on the health system.
The previous record of 78 deaths was set on Tuesday. There have been just under 3,000 coronavirus deaths in Australia since the pandemic began.
And New South Wales, home to Sydney, recorded a record 46 deaths. Among them was a child who died of the novel coronavirus in December, one of several historical cases investigated.
The news came after Mark McGowan, prime minister of Western Australia, backed away from his pledge to reopen the state to the rest of the country on Feb. 5.
At a late-night news conference Thursday, McGowan said reopening the state as planned would be “reckless and irresponsible” given the large number of COVID-19 cases in other states. No new date has been set for when the country might relax its border closures.
The border decision means that neither Prime Minister Scott Morrison nor opposition leader Anthony Albanese can campaign in the state for now. Elections are scheduled for May 21.
AOQ