There has been a steady surge of COVID-19 cases all around the world and the trend seems to be continuing in Australia. The country saw 5450 cases on Monday – a record since the pandemic started – and the official data stated that the majority of cases were from the Omicron sub-variants.
It has come as a major surprise for experts who expected the numbers to peak in June when the BA.4 and BA.5 strains were extremely dominant. However, the curve has refused to go down and according to Reuters, most specialists has compared its infection rate to that of measles.
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Previously, the highest number of cases recorded in a day in Australia was 5390 in January. It was beginning of the Omicron surge but even the death toll numbers were less at that point.
With several aged care centres battling a shortage of staff, the support of defence personnel in such facilities is to be extended until the end of September, Defence Minister Richard Marles said.
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“It is an extreme measure and it’s right to describe it as that,” he told ABC television according to Reuters. “Given the number of outbreaks that we’ve got right now, this is the right thing to do.”
The surge has also affected frontline workers in a number of institutions resulting in a shortage of people who are equipped enough to take care of the situation. However, the country has promised to boost their vaccination drive with most people in line to receive booster doses at this point.
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(With inputs from agencies)
