New COVID-19 cases in Australia’s most populous state surged to a pandemic record Wednesday, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with state leaders to discuss preventative measures.
Morrison emerged from national cabinet meeting again rejecting lockdowns and mask mandates imposed by federal government. He said policies on mask wearing were best left to state governments and to Australians who should follow “commonsense behavioral measures.” New South Wales state on Wednesday recorded 3,763 new cases, up 706 from Tuesday, though number of omicron cases was not known because genomic sequencing is not routinely carried out there.
State and territory leaders were expected to press Morrison to reduce gap between second vaccine doses and booster shots. Morrison said any decision on reducing gap from five to four months would be made by Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization.
