Australia has recorded another surge of deaths due to Covid-19 as an outbreak of the highly contagious Omicron variant peaked, and authorities warned numbers could rise further when schools return from end-of-year holidays next week.
The country is trying to strike a balance between reopening after two years of movement restrictions and coping with the highest numbers of deaths and cases of the pandemic.
Authorities say a rollout of a vaccine booster will reduce deaths, and point to a stabilisation in hospitalisation numbers as a sign the flare-up has reached its worst.
Australia today reported 58 deaths, most of them in its three most populous states - New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland - in line with the previous day's count but still among the highest of the pandemic.