Almost 1000 coronavirus swabs retested for the Omicron variant show the strain began circulating in NSW from November 22, with an international arrival the likely source for a south-west Sydney cluster
Almost 1000 coronavirus swabs re-tested for the Omicron variant show no evidence the strain was circulating in NSW before November 23, leading health officials to believe an international arrival is the source of the south-west Sydney cluster.
With 20 cases now linked to a local cluster across two Regents Park schools and a climbing gym, Sydney Catholic Schools have given their principals the choice of switching to remote learning early, or continuing until the end of term four.Parents at St Pius Catholic Primary School in Newtown were told in a letter on Tuesday that the school would be doing remote learning for the final three days of term, from next Monday until December 13.
NSW’s 20 locally acquired cases are all linked to transmission at two schools and a climbing gym in the Regents Park and Villawood areas, mostly among school-aged children. ANU infectious diseases specialist Associate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake said it was “reassuring and somewhat surprising” that Sydney’s locally acquired Omicron cases were all linked, given others who caught the variant overseas had been in the community while infectious.“It’s only around day 10 of the illness that they really end up in hospital,” he said, noting Australia’s Omicron infections were less than a fortnight old.
James Wood, a mathematician at UNSW’s School of Public Health and Community Medicine, said recent data from South Africa raises some concerns about the speed of the variant’s spread in a population with high levels of previous infection.“Within a couple of weeks it seems likely that South Africa will have a large national epidemic in a country that has three big waves of infection. It looks like Omicron evades our immune response to some extent and that raises some concern,” he said.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Victoria records 1,073 new COVID-19 cases as Omicron continues to spread in NSWVictoria has recorded 1,073 new COVID-19 infections and another six deaths, as the premier pledges to try to keep the state's border open amid the Omicron variant spreading elsewhere.
Read more »
NSW Omicron COVID-19 cases swell to 25New South Wales reported nine locally acquired cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant on Monday - all linked to the Regents Park cluster in western Sydney.
Read more »
South Africa urges vaccines 'without delay' as Omicron surgesSouth Africa is being hit by a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections driven by the new Omicron variant.
Read more »
Source of NSW Omicron cluster identifiedThe source of NSW’s growing Omicron Covid-19 cluster has been discovered, with more cases of the new variant confirmed overnight.
Read more »
Victoria fears first Omicron caseBREAKING: Victorian health authorities fear they may have recorded the state’s first case of the Covid-19 Omicron variant.
Read more »
Australia news LIVE: Queensland border to reopen to vaccinated travellers next week; NSW Omicron COVID-19 cases growGenomic sequencing is under way to determine whether an international traveller who landed in Melbourne last week could have been infected with the new Omicron strain of COVID-19 | COVID19 hotelquarantine Omicron
Read more »