Sydney: The new Coronavirus infection surged again in Australia on Friday with a record of more than 32,000, just days after exceeding 10,000 for the first time.
Experts said the explosion was driven by a very contagious Omicron variant and relaxation of recent restrictions in Sydney and other areas.
More than 15,000 new cases were reported in Sydney.
5,000 other cases come from other places in the state of New South Wales, while nearly 6,000 are confirmed in the state of Victoria, the house for the second largest Melbourne city.
While hospitalization and death have increased from a surge, so far they have not reached the comparative level seen in the previous outbreak.
And many cities plan to continue the celebration of New Year’s Eve, including the famous appearance of fireworks from the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House.
Authorities expect a crowd that is much smaller than pre-pandemic years, when 1 million people rejoice will be frowned in Sydney.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison remains optimistic even though the number of viruses rises and many natural challenges recently faced by the nation.
“Apart from the pandemic, despite floods, fires, sustainable droughts in several regions, typhoons, kuncian, even mouse treads, Australia stronger today than last year.
And we are safer,” Morrison said in A New Year’s Eve message.
“We have one of the lowest death rates and the highest level of vaccination from Covid anywhere in the world,” he said.
In the state of New South Wales, officials reported six new deaths while 763 patients were hospitalized, including 69 in intensive care.
The state cannot follow demand for tests, leaving people to wait for hours.
But State Premier Dominic Perrottet said the overall health system.
“While the case numbers increase substantially, compared to where we are with a Delta variant, our position remains very strong,” he said.
“Our number one priority here in New South Wales is to keep our people safe and it will continue to be our priority when we move through the next phase.”