Record number of COVID-hit Australians in hospital as Omicron surges

FILE PHOTO: A health worker administers a test for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on a member of the public at the Bondi Beach drive-through testing centre during a COVID-19 outbreak lockdown in Sydney, Australia, October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The number of Australians admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 hit a record of about 5,450 on Monday, official data showed, as the spread of highly contagious new Omicron sub-variants strains the healthcare system nationwide.

The figure has grown since late June, as the BA.4 and BA.5 strains became dominant since they can evade immune protection, whether from vaccination or prior infection, while some experts say the latter can be as infectious as measles.