World News: Australia Omicron count edges higher, health authorities on edge – Gulf Digital News

World News: Australia Omicron count edges higher, health authorities on edge – Gulf Digital News

SYDNEY - Australia's tally of people with the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 edged higher on Thursday, prompting state governments to bolster domestic border controls as health experts wait to learn more about the dangers posed by the strain.

The country's most populous state, New South Wales, reported its seventh case of the variant, a person who arrived on Nov. 23 from Doha, Qatar, and noted that the person had not been in southern Africa, suggesting they caught the virus on the flight.

While the Australian federal government has urged states to avoid a return to the stop-start lockdowns that have defined the country's virus response, health authorities urged caution until they knew more about Omicron's infectiousness and virulence.