Australia: Pub parties and gatherings push record cases

Australian authorities are rushing to identify hundreds of people who attended a party dedicated to Taylor Swift’s Sydney album last week, which turned into a new coronavirus outbreak as cases in the country reached new highs. the pandemic for the second consecutive day.

New coronavirus infections, including Omicron’s new, more contagious variant, are spreading to pubs and nightclubs as social isolation rules loosen after higher levels of COVID-19 vaccination are achieved.

Despite the outbreak, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia had entered “a different phase of the pandemic” and ruled out lockdowns to stem the spread of the virus.

“Case numbers are no longer the measure (…) the real measure is what they mean in terms of serious illness (intensive care), hospitalization, pressure on the hospital system,” Morrison told reporters today.

Initial indications are that the Omicron variant of the new coronavirus may be less severe than other strains, the prime minister said.

At least 97 cases, including some possible Omicron mutations, have been identified among those attending a Taylor Swift theme party. More than 600 people who attended the event will have to undergo a diagnostic test and be placed in self-isolation, while officials point out that there may have been others who participated in the event.

A record 3,820 new cases were reported in Australia today, with most of them reported in the country’s most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria. That number surpassed the previous record of 3,400 cases a day earlier.

NS the Omicron strain.

Health officials have blamed rallies in pubs and nightclubs for the “rapid rise” in cases. “Some of them have turned into over-the-counter events,” said New South Wales health official Jeremy Macanalti.

Neighboring Victoria, meanwhile, is on high alert after a man attacked by Omicron visited a busy pub and hotel in Melbourne.

Australia has so far recorded about 243,000 cases of the new coronavirus and 2,134 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic broke out.

Source: AMPE

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Source From: Capital

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