The Omicron coronavirus variant spread in Australia on Saturday, testing plans to reopen the economy as a cluster in Sydney grew to 13 cases and an infection was suspected in the state of Queensland.
Australia reported its first community transmission of Omicron on Friday at a school in Sydney. (File image) Photo: 123RF
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 New South Wales chief health officer Kerry Chant.
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," said Health Minister Yvette D'Ath. "But it is being treated as if it is."
The Australian Capital Territory, home to the capital Canberra, was on alert for further spread after one of its new coronavirus cases was found to be a close contact of the Territory's first Omicron case reported on Friday.
There are currently no known cases of the Omicron variant in Victoria, but the state recorded 1365 new local cases and nine deaths.
Authorities in South Australia said on Saturday that arrivals from New South Wales, Victoria and the capital territory will be tested. The state reopened its domestic borders only days ago for the first time in months.
Several thousand people protested vaccination mandates in Melbourne on Saturday.
A smaller counter-protest called to stop the movement in the city and support vaccinations.
The state of Victoria requires full vaccination to access most hospitality services and non-essential retail, as well as to work in health care and many other industries.
Nearly 88 percent of Australians over the age of 16 have been fully vaccinated, health data showed.
Anti-vaccination supporters number in single digits in Australia, according to polls. But unvaccinated patients make up the vast majority of those hospitalised with the coronavirus. In Victoria, 90 percent of the 44 people in the intensive care have not been fully vaccinated, health data showed.
Despite battling many outbreaks this year, leading to months of lockdown in Sydney and Melbourne, the country has had only about 834 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 7.9 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the World Health Organisation, a fraction of impact in many other developed nations.
Australia has had just under 215,000 cases total and 2042 deaths.
-Reuters / ABC