Covid cases surge to record daily highs as Prime Minister brought forward an emergency national cabinet meeting

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has brought forward an emergency national cabinet meeting to deal with challenges arising from the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Covid cases surge to record daily highs in four states including New South Wales and Victoria as the government has announced it will be distributing millions of free rapid antigen tests. Several states and territories consistently smashing daily case records and queues for PCR tests growing rapidly.

NSW daily infection tally almost doubles in a day, with 11,201 cases and three deaths recorded. Hospitalisations have risen to 625, up from 557 in the previous reporting period, and there are now 61 patients in intensive care.

In the past 24 hours, Victoria recorded 3767 new COVID-19 cases, jumping from 2738 recorded yesterday. Five additional people have also died as a result of the virus.

National cabinet will convene on Thursday to discuss a range of issues relating to the “Omicron effect” and the stresses a surging virus caseload has placed on the nation’s testing and health regimes.

This includes potential changes to the definition of what constitutes a close contact and he appropriate trigger points for isolating health and hospitality staff – as well as updated guidelines around when people should take a test.

National cabinet will also discuss coronavirus testing requirements tomorrow, as Australia begins to rely more heavily on rapid antigen tests.

Mr Morrison said PCR tests should only be used for people with symptoms consistent with COVID infection, or to confirm a positive rapid antigen test result of someone who has been symptomatic.

The surge in Covid cases over the past week – as well as public holiday service closures and onerous travel requirements – has taken testing clinics across the nation to breaking point.

Victoria has since announced it has purchased 34 million rapid antigen tests – which it will distribute for free to those who need them most – and NSW has 20 million.