Australia's New South Wales reports 1st Omicron variant death, state still set to reopen

The most populous state of Australia on Sunday confirmed its first death from the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron, as hospitalisations rise in the wake of a rapid surge in new infections. The death of an 80-year-old man was reported from New South Wales (NSW) in Western Sydney after he contracted the infection. As per reports, the fully vaccinated individual was a resident of Uniting Lilian Wells aged-care facility in North Parramatta. He also reportedly had underlying health conditions.

"This is the first known death in NSW linked to the Omicron "variant of concern," NSW health department said, as per 7 News. The man died in Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Two other COVID-related death of octogenarians were also reported on the same day. The fully vaccinated citizens had underlying health conditions. This comes after at least 400 patients in Sydney hospital were mistakenly told that they were COVID positive on Christmas Day.

This comes as COVID-related hospitalisations have nearly doubled in the past weeks. A total of 520 people are hospitalised, including 55 of them in intensive care and 17 in ventilation. Meanwhile, testing sites and laboratories have remained overwhelmed, leading to a drop in daily COVID tests by 60,000. Despite the critical condition, Australian health authorities have refrained from imposing curbs to restrict the spread of the virus.

NSW Health Minister declares new relaxations in COVID-related measures

With over 6,000 daily cases in NSW, state Health Minister Braz Hazzard on Sunday announced that health workers exposed to COVID-19 will no more be required to isolate. His decision comes in a wake of staff shortages in healthcare facilities across Sydney. “From early indications, NSW Health believes the majority of ICU COVID patients have the Delta variant. Health is seeking to confirm this through additional tests,” Health Minister of NSW, Hazzard said. “The bottom line here is that we would expect that pretty well everybody in NSW at some point will get Omicron, we’re all going to get Omicron," he added.

With over 200 staff being granted leave of absence due to unavoidable reasons, the government sought the easiest way to battle staff shortage amid rising concerns of Omicron cases worldwide. However, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, the most hospitalised cases in NSW have reportedly been of Delta variant, despite Omicron representing about 80% of current cases. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Australia has faired pretty well during the two-year-long running pandemic with just 56,000 cases and over 2,162 COVID-related deaths.

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