Australia reported a record number of COVID-19-related deaths on Tuesday as the country battles the omicron variant.
The country reported 78 deaths, up from its high of 57 deaths on Jan. 13, according to Australia’s COVID-19 data. This comes as the nation’s daily COVID-19 case report, 72,860 on Tuesday, has slowed down from its high of 175,271 on Jan. 12.
Australia is facing its worst wave of the coronavirus pandemic in terms of daily reported deaths and daily reported cases. Hospitalizations are also experiencing pandemic highs. On Tuesday, the country reported having 5,237 people in the hospital with COVID-19, 419 in intensive care units, and 131 on ventilators, according to the country’s COVID-19 data.
The nation has taken aggressive measures to combat the pandemic. Several states and cities in the country engaged in monthslong lockdowns to combat the virus. For example, Melbourne locked down for 262 days between March 2020 and October 2021, according to Axios. In December, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country should not return to lockdowns despite the onset of omicron.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC LEAVES AUSTRALIA AFTER FEDERAL COURT DISMISSES VISA APPEAL
Australia, which has a population of roughly 25 million people, has reported 2,776 deaths during the pandemic. For comparison, New York, which has a population of about 19.5 million people, has reported 62,073 COVID-19-related deaths so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. New York’s daily COVID-19 case record is 1,271.
Researchers at the Australian National University concluded in a recent study that life expectancy in the country increased by about 0.7 years between 2019 and 2020 despite the pandemic. Meanwhile, in the United States, life expectancy has declined by about 1.5 years from 2019 to 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Australia has sparked international controversy for its decision to revoke a visa from Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic due to his failure to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Djokovic was set to compete in the Australian Open. The nine-time champion of the tournament left Australia following a court ruling Sunday that rejected his appeal of the decision.
