Omicron Roils Australia’s Exit from Zero-Covid Strategy

December 30, 2021

(Wall Street Journal) – Australia’s shift to living with Covid-19 after keeping cases near zero for much of the pandemic was based on a bet that a high vaccination rate would limit severe illness and hospitalizations. On both scores, this country of 26 million people is doing well. Evidence so far suggests the Omicron variant, which accounts for most new infections in Australia, generally leads to less-severe disease than earlier strains of the virus. But Australia’s health system is ailing as a surge in Covid-19 cases overwhelms the test-and-trace regime that has been a key defense up to now. (Read More)