Australia reports record deaths from Covid-19

As 74 deaths are recorded, hospitals under stress also face shortage of staff

Australia reported a record high of Covid-19 deaths Tuesday, and its second-largest state declared an emergency in hospitals to cope with surging patient admissions and a staffing shortage due to the coronavirus.

The 74 deaths occurred in its three most populous states. New South Wales reported 36, Victoria reported 22 and Queensland 16. The previous daily record was 59 coronavirus-related deaths on Sept. 4, 2020. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said there were signs that New South Wales’ infection rate was peaking and Victoria was near a plateau.

The New South Wales government has ruled out a return to lockdown to counter the highly contagious omicron variant. In October, Sydney ended a 108-day lockdown because the population of Australia’s most populous city was largely vaccinated.

Another lockdown would have “substantial consequences for men and women right across the state in terms of being able to provide food on the table for their family,” state Premier Domonic Perrottet told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Victoria declared an emergency for hospitals in its state capital, Melbourne, and several regional hospitals from midday Wednesday because of staff shortages and a surge in patient admissions. About 5,000 staff are absent because they are either infected or close contacts.

UK PM lied: ex aide

Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings has accused the British PM of lying to parliament that he thought a drinks party held in the Downing Street garden during the first lockdown was work-related. Johnson told the House of Commons that he went to the party on May 20, 2020 thinking it was a work event. Cummings said in a blogpost that Johnson was told by two senior officials that it was not. He was told it would break Covid-19 rules but he still decided it should go ahead.

‘Some patients may be infectious even after 10 days’

One in ten people may still be infectious for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, after the 10 day quarantine period, according to a study.
The research, published recently in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, used a newly adapted test which can detect whether the virus was potentially still active. The test was applied to samples from 176 people in Exeter, UK, who had tested positive on standard PCR tests. The team led by researchers at the University of Exeter found that 13 per cent of people still exhibited clinically-relevant levels of virus after 10 days, meaning they could potentially still be infectious. Some people retained these levels for up to 68 days, the researchers found.

Hong Kong to cull 2,000 animals

Hong Kong authorities said Tuesday that they will cull some 2,000 small animals, including hamsters after several of the rodents tested positive for the virus at a pet store where an infected employee was working. The city will also stop sale of hamsters and import of small mammals, said officials from Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. 

26,69,054
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

32,62,79,424
Total no. of cases worldwide

55,36,609
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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