Melbourne: Australia recorded a record number of deaths from Covid-19 on Tuesday and its second largest state declared a state of emergency in hospitals due to the coronavirus. Due to this, the number of admitted patients is increasing and they are facing a shortage of staff. 74 patients died in the three most populous states.
36 patients died in New South Wales, 22 in Victoria, and 16 in Queensland. Earlier, on September 4, 2020, 59 people died due to the corona virus in a single day. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said there are signs the infection rate is peaking in New South Wales and about to stabilize in Victoria.
The government of New South Wales has ruled out imposing a lockdown to deal with the highly contagious Omicron pattern. In October, Sydney lifted a 108-day lockdown after most people in Australia’s most populous state had been vaccinated. Victoria declared a state of emergency on Wednesday afternoon in hospitals and several regional hospitals in the state capital Melbourne due to staff shortages and surges in admissions.
Around 5,000 workers are absent because they are either infected or in close contact. This is the first time that a state of emergency has been imposed in several hospitals in the state. In Australia with a population of about 26 million, 2,700 people have died due to Covid-19.
