Coronavirus: Sydney braces for more Omicron cases; South Korea’s daily infections exceed 5,000 for first time
- NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard ruled out lockdowns to contain the variant after at least two travellers visited several places in Sydney while likely infectious
- Elsewhere, millions of Filipinos face having to pay for their own Covid-19 tests as a new rule mandating vaccines in workplaces comes into force
Officials in New South Wales (NSW), home to Sydney, said initial testing “strongly indicates” a man in his 40s, who arrived from southern Africa on November 25, had been infected with the Omicron variant and had spent time in the community.
“We believe it is likely it will be confirmed later this afternoon as a definite Omicron case,” NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told reporters, but he ruled out lockdowns to contain the newly identified variant.
“I feel like it’s time for a change in approach. We don’t know how many more variants of this virus are going to come,” Hazzard said.
Sydney came out of nearly four months of lockdown in early October to contain a Delta outbreak and has been gradually easing curbs after higher vaccinations.
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What do we know about the new coronavirus variant Omicron?
When confirmed, the latest probable case would bring the total number of confirmed infections in Australia to seven, with six detected in NSW.