Coronavirus: Sydney Omicron cluster grows; cases and deaths shoot up in South Korea
- The number of Omicron cases in the Australian city climbed to 13 as some state governments moved to tighten their domestic border controls
- Elsewhere, the Cook Islands recorded its first Covid-19 infection since the pandemic began, and India reported its third Omicron case
Federal authorities are sticking with a plan to reopen the economy on the hope that the new variant proves to be milder than previous strains, but some state and territory governments have moved to tighten their domestic border controls.
Australia reported its first community transmission of Omicron on Friday at a school in Sydney. Authorities are investigating the source.
Further Omicron cases were expected over the weekend when more tests results come, said Kerry Chant, chief health officer of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital.
Queensland authorities said the state suspected its first Omicron case in a person who travelled from South Africa and that genome sequencing was ongoing.
“The public health unit have ruled out that it is Delta but we haven’t been able to confirm if it is Omicron,” state Health Minister Yvette D’Ath. “But it is being treated as if it is.”