It comes as the Omicron variant was on Saturday night confirmed as the dominant strain of Covid in Victoria, with 76 per cent of all cases now believed to be that variant.The state on Sunday recorded 7172 new cases of Covid-19 and three deaths, easing back from record figures amid lighter New Year’s Day testing volumes.The state’s Sunday caseload is down from a record 7442 on Saturday, although hospitalisations have risen from 451 to 472.There are 52 people with active infections in intensive care and 22 on ventilators.NED-5250-Victoria’s Covid-19 statisticsA further 46 people remain in ICU but their cases are no longer considered active.As the nation weathers an Omicron spike, Victoria’s Transport Minister Ben Carroll on Saturday said there were no plans to reintroduce restrictions such as density limits on entertainment venues despite the rise in cases.“There are no plans for more restrictions,” he said.“Victorians by and large are doing the right thing, in terms of using the QR system, checking in, wearing a mask. We all need to live in an outdoor lifestyle and be as safe as we can.”The state’s vaccination rate stands at 93 per cent of those aged 12 and older. Chief health officer Brett Sutton has advised the government to close dance floors and implement density caps on hospitality venues though the Health Minister has not enacted those measures.In NSW, the number of new Covid cases has eased slightly to 18,278, but hospitalisations are now above 1000.NSW’s daily case numbers hit a record 22,577 on Saturday morning but have fallen back in the 24 hours since, a reporting period that stretched over New Year’s Day.Testing numbers dropped by 30,000 to 90,019 as people woke to the New Year.Two more people died from Covid, while the number of people in hospital – 1066 patients – is up from 901 on January 1.There are now 83 people in intensive care, up from 79.Case numbers there have more than tripled in a week from 6288.Meanwhile, Queensland has moved to introduce a face mask mandate for all indoor settings, except for family homes. The measure came as the state recorded 2266 new Covid cases on Saturday, down from a record 3118 hit on Friday.
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