NSW posts its deadliest day as cases surge in Victoria

NSW has recorded sixteen  COVID-19 deaths, the most in a single day since the pandemic began, along with 30,062 new infections. The state has surpassed its previous record of 15 deaths set on September 29 and October 1 last year during the Delta outbreak.

The latest deaths include eight women and eight men in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

Officials say 14 of the fatalities were Sydney residents, mostly from the city's west and southwest. One was from the NSW Central Coast and one from the state's south coast.

There are 1927 people in hospital with the virus, with 151 of those in intensive care, up from 1795 and 145 patients respectively on Saturday.

Victoria has recorded 44,155 new positive COVID-19 test results, with 22,051 coming from rapid antigen tests.The Department of Health confirmed the 22,104 positive PCR results on Sunday, with another four people dying with the virus.

Changes to workplace restrictions and transport timetables have been announced in a bid to ease the impact of rising case numbers on the delivery of critical services.

The NSW government has introduced new isolation exemptions for critical workers in the food logistics and manufacturing sectors who become close contacts.

These workers will be permitted to leave self-isolation and attend work as long as they have no symptoms of COVID-19.

Australia’s Deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd said it was likely many Australians would test positive in the coming days and weeks as case numbers continued to surge.

“With the rising case numbers we’ve seen over the past week in many parts of the country, it’s likely that many of us will test positive for Covid-19 over the coming days and weeks if we haven’t already done so,” he said.

He urged people to be prepared for any potential infections by having paracetamol or ibuprofen at hand to manage fevers and mild aches or pains.

NSW hospitals remain under significant pressure with high numbers of hospitalisations and the loss of many medical staff to Covid-19 isolation requirements.

New infections in the Omicron-fuelled outbreak are expected to peak in the third or fourth week of January before they begin to decline next month, according to government modelling.

In a major backflip by NSW premiere  Dominic Perrottet, a number of restrictions have been reintroduced this weekend in an effort to slow the spread of the virus and reduce pressure on hospitals.