Record-high cases in Australia amid third wave of Covid-19

People go shopping as police patrol in Melbourne on September 30 as it grapples with a surge in COVID-19 infections. Pic/AFP

Australia reported a new record number of coronavirus cases on Thursday when the country continues to battle the third wave of Covid-19 infections.
There were more than 2,400 new locally-acquired infections reported nationwide on Thursday morning, the figure surpassing 2,000 in a single day for just the second time.

New South Wales (NSW), the most populous state with Sydney as capital, reported 941 new local cases and six deaths. Victoria, the second-most populous state with Melbourne as capital, reported a further 1,438 new local cases and five deaths.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) reported 31 new cases on Thursday, at least 17 of which were infectious before some lockdown restrictions easing. From Friday Canberrans will be allowed outdoors in groups of five for up to four hours, ACT's national parks and nature reserves will reopen and households will be allowed two visitors. ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said for the lockdown to end as planned on Oct. 15, Canberrans must take advantage of vaccine appointments.

"Over the next few weeks our absolute priority is to ensure that everyone who wants a vaccine has the opportunity to get one," he said. According to the Department of Health, 77.3 per cent of Australians aged 16 and older have got one Covid-19 vaccine dose and 53.4 per cent are vaccinated.

AstraZeneca to seek US approval

AstraZeneca will file a request for approval of its novel coronavirus vaccine in the US later this year, the company said in a statement.

Denmark seems to fall short of vaccination goal

Denmark seems to have failed to reach its target of 90 per cent people over age 12 being vaccinated twice by October 1 as the latest official figures show 84.9% have got both shots. The official figures by Danish Health Authorities show 4,366,235 people got both shots.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliabilitsy and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever