Families make their way to enter Taronga Zoo in Sydney on October 18, 2021, as the zoo reopened its doors to the vaccinated visitors after the lifting of Sydney鈥檚 lockdown restrictions. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
SYDNEY 鈥� Australia will push ahead with plans to ease Covid restrictions before Christmas, officials said Tuesday, even as new coronavirus cases in the country鈥檚 most populous state reached a 10-week high.
After a string of infections linked to festive season parties in and around Sydney, New South Wales state recorded more than 800 new cases Tuesday 鈥� its highest total since October 2.
There were seven related deaths reported nationwide.
Authorities said the new cases would not deter them from dropping most public mask-wearing requirements from Wednesday or lifting a ban on unvaccinated citizens entering restaurants, bars and major events.
鈥淲e have decided as a country to live with this virus,鈥� said Prime Minister Scott Morrison, touting high vaccination rates as a guarantee of a virtually restriction-free festive period.
鈥淭his Christmas, we鈥檙e about to have is a聽gift Australians have given to聽themselves, by the way they鈥檝e worked聽together with the settings we鈥檝e put聽in place,鈥� he said.
After a glacial initial vaccine rollout, more than 89 percent of Australians aged over 16 are now double-dose vaccinated and 93 percent have received their first jab.
The gap required before a third-dose booster can be administered has been shortened from six months after the second jab to five months to provide better resistance.
Australia has also detected more than 85 cases of the Omicron variant, which is feared to be highly transmissible and more vaccine resistant.
Many Western countries have begun to reintroduce restrictions as they try to roll out boosters and case numbers rise.
New South Wales health minister Brad Hazzard said he was 鈥渧ery concerned鈥� not enough people were getting a booster shot, but pledged not to introduce any snap lockdowns.
鈥淢y聽concern is that once the聽unvaccinated are mixing in with the聽vaccinated, you鈥檇 have to expect the聽numbers will increase even further聽and that鈥檚 worrying because that聽puts pressure on our doctors and our聽nurses and our frontline health聽system,鈥� Hazzard said.
Adding to the pressure, Australia is ploughing ahead with reopening domestic and international borders, welcoming back vaccinated skilled migrants and students from Wednesday.
And after lengthy closures that separated families and friends for months, tropical Queensland state opened its borders to hotspot areas Monday while the island state of Tasmania will follow suit on Wednesday.
Only Western Australia 鈥� a vast, mineral-rich region with a stubborn independent streak 鈥� will remain locked off over the holidays, with its border to remain closed until February 5.
Announcing plans to build a Moderna mRNA vaccine-manufacturing facility in Melbourne, Morrison insisted Australia is 鈥渂etter聽prepared than almost any other聽country in the world to deal with聽this and continue to stare this聽virus in the face and live with it鈥�.
Australia has recorded more than 230,000 cases of Covid-19 and 2,113 related deaths in a population of 25 million since the pandemic began.