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Sydney: Despite a record number of COVID-19 cases, Sydney, the Australian city hardest hit by the Omicron wave, will celebrate New Year’s Eve on Friday, with authorities encouraging revellers to come out and enjoy the festivities.
Thousands are anticipated to line up early in the morning to view Sydney’s famed fireworks, the traditional 12-minute pyrotechnic show to ring in the new year, with queues forming at several vantage locations.
As daily infections in the state nearly doubled to a record 21,151 on Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison hoped people to “enjoy the evening,” while NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet urged everyone to “go out and enjoy New Year’s.”
Many countries have cut back on New Year’s celebrations in order to restrict the spread of the Omicron coronavirus type, but events in Sydney will go on as planned after last year’s plans were cancelled owing to COVID-19.
With the exception of Western Australia, all Australian states have begun to live with the virus as increased vaccination levels and a relaxation of restrictions pushed cases to new highs.
Despite the record high, Perrottet underlined on Friday that NSW is “in a very strong position” due to increased vaccinations and that hospitals are dealing with the Omicron wave.
“Our position is extraordinarily sturdy,” Perrottet told reporters, “despite the fact that case numbers are dramatically increasing.”
According to government data, only 127 persons in Australia’s over 135,000 active cases are in intensive care.
On Friday, Australia reported more than 32,400 cases, a new pandemic high, greatly surpassing the previous high of 21,329 cases reported a day earlier, while overall infections approached 400,000. Since the outbreak, 2,239 people have died.
