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In recent days the number of new infections in Australia has been breaking records, with the surge fuelled by the more contagious Omicron variant strain of the coronavirus. However, Morrison insisted that containing the spread of the virus is now the individual responsibility of citizens.
"We need to get over this government-imposed mentality and we need to treat Australians as adults," the Australian prime minister told reporters. He also called on the authorities to change their attitude and move away from the "command culture."
"We will not go back to lockdown. We will move on and live with this virus with common sense and responsibility," he stressed.
Lockdowns and strict social distancing rules have helped Australia to keep the number of covid-19 cases at relatively low levels, with the country recording around 260,000 infections and 2,154 deaths since the start of the pandemic. But in recent weeks it has reopened, with most of its residents having been immunised against covid-19 and despite the threat of the Omicron strain.
Authorities are now focusing on providing booster doses of vaccine, with Morrison calling on states to reopen hundreds of vaccination centres that were closed when demand for appointments declined as 80% of Australians over the age of 16 have been fully immunised.
Despite the rapid spread of Omicron, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said that only "a very small proportion" of these cases end up in hospital. The number of patients hospitalised with covid-19 is on the rise, but remains at lower levels than those recorded at the peak of the epidemic wave caused by the Delta stele.
About 4,600 new cases of covid-19 were detected in the past 24 hours in Australia, surpassing the previous record of about 4,100 over the weekend.
Source: APE-MPA
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