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 The country reported 86 deaths from the virus on Friday, figures
from the state and territory jurisdictions that have reported so far
showed, its deadliest day since the start of the pandemic.
Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), reported 46
deaths of patients with COVID-19, also its worst day, including one
infant, while Victoria state saw 20 deaths. Yet, a drop in
hospitalisations in both states did offer hope the latest outbreak
might have peaked.
All states and territories, except Western Australia (WA), have
reopened their internal borders under a policy of living with
COVID-19, despite a record surge in cases. Western Australia was to
follow suit next month.
However, Western Australia state Premier Mark McGowan made a shock
announcement late on Thursday saying it would be "reckless and
irresponsible" to open up given the rapid spread of Omicron.
Instead, re-opening would be delayed indefinitely or at least until
the percentage of triple dose vaccinations reached 80%. It is
currently around 26%.
"If we proceeded with the original plan, we would be deliberately
seeding thousands upon thousands of COVID cases into WA and at this
point in time that is not what I am going to do," McGowan told
reporters.
That decision prompted Qantas Airways Ltd to cut its Australian seat
capacity
https://www.reuters.com/business/
aerospace-defense/qantas-cut-more-domestic-capacity-western-australia-border-opening-delay-2022-01-21
by 10 more percentage points to 60% of pre-pandemic levels for the
March quarter.
McGowan said the original re-opening plan was based on the less-transmissable
Delta strain, not Omicron.
The state, which is the size of Western Europe with a population of
2.7 million, has for months been closed off to the rest of the
country and the outside world, taking advantage of its natural
isolation to keep cases low.
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 There are only 83 active cases
in the state, compared with 550,000 in the
country as a whole, and just a handful of those
are Omicron.
The decision is likely to anger Prime Munster
Scott Morrison, who has long urged all the
states to open up and learn to live with the
virus.
"I know that many West Australians will this
morning be very disappointed and they will be
asking the question 'if not now, when?'" Federal
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told Sky News.
Some WA travel conditions are still set to change on Feb. 5,
including allowing more people in for compassionate reasons, though
they would still have to isolate for 14 days.
The original plan would have allowed in double-vaccinated interstate
and international travellers without completing quarantine. Now
visitors will need to be triple vaccinated.
"What we are going to do is review the situation over February and
watch what is occurring over east and work out what the best
approach is for Western Australia," McGowan said.
Cases have ballooned in the rest of the country in recent weeks,
overloading hospitals and causing major disruptions to supply chains
through illness and absenteeism.
(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Additional reporting by Sam HolmesEditing
by Marguerita Choy, Michael Perry and Gerry Doyle)
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