Scott Morrison and state premiers are facing renewed pressure to speed up the COVID-19 booster shot rollout and implement Christmas mask mandates, as expert modelling warned of a surge of 200,000 daily infections as soon as the end of next month.
Despite record case numbers on Tuesday, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet resisted calls to toughen indoor mask rules in Australia’s most populous state, instead promising to consider new modelling provided to the national cabinet during emergency talks on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister pushed Australians to protect themselves, describing indoor mask use as sensible on a day when NSW, South Australia and Queensland reported their highest rates of new community infections.
Despite the increase in cases, Mr Morrison insisted Australia was beyond “the heavy hand” of lockdowns.
The new Doherty Institute modelling showed that without low to medium restrictions, surging omicron variant cases could reach 200,000 a day from late January or early February.
The figures said as many as 4000 people would need hospital treatment per day, with as many as 8000 to 10,000 intensive-care admissions expected.
Greater action was needed, as “boosters alone will not be fast enough to halt the spread of omicron.”
Be the first to comment