Sydney, Dec 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) A fully vaccinated elderly man in his 80s from New South Wales (NSW) in Australia is believed to be the first person to die due to the Omicron variant of Covid-19, even as 520 patients are hospitalised in the country due to the virus.
The man died at Westmead Hospital and was a resident of the Uniting Lilian Wells aged care facility at North Parramatta, in western Sydney, where he acquired his infection, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
He was fully vaccinated but had underlying health conditions.
NSW Health's Christine Selvey said the man was believed to be the first person to die in the state after being infected with the Omicron variant and urged people to come forward for a booster or third dose if they were eligible.
According to federal government data released last week, 33 residents and 11 staff members at the North Parramatta aged care facility have recently been infected with Covid-19.
On Monday, 520 Covid-19 patients were in hospital, 55 of whom were in intensive care in NSW as 6,324 new cases were recorded and QR codes and density limits returned in certain settings, the report said.
Two other deaths due to Covid-19 were reported: a woman in her 90s who died at Wyong Hospital and a man in his 80s who died at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Both had received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Brad Hazzard said everyone in Australia will "get Omicron at some stage".
"Everybody in Australia will get Omicron, and what we're seeing at the moment is far milder symptoms," he said, urging people against calling an ambulance or going to hospital if their symptoms were not severe, with about 2,000 hospital staff currently on furlough.
"That's putting enormous pressure on other staff in our hospitals," he was quoted as saying.
Hazzard said that people who tested positive and didna?t have to go to hospital would be able to leave isolation after 10 days if they were symptom-free.
"You can leave your home because we know that you are very unlikely at that point to be infectious," he said.
South Australia has scrapped the PCR test requirement for incoming travellers while heightening restrictions for venues and home gatherings, but is asking visitors to take rapid antigen tests.
The NSW government is expecting pressure on Covid-19 testing centres to die down in the New Year after people's travel plans take place.
Senior ministers are in discussions about the procurement of more rapid antigen tests to cope with ongoing demand, with an announcement expected soon.
Source: IANS
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz
This website uses cookies.
