Australia will remain a divided nation, with the vast mining state of Western Australia cancelling plans to reopen its borders on February 5, citing health risks from a surge in the Omicron Covid-19 variant in eastern states.
The country reported 86 deaths from the virus on Friday, figures from the state and territory jurisdictions that have reported so far showed, its deadliest day since the start of the pandemic.
However, Western Australia state Premier Mark McGowan made a shock announcement late on Thursday saying it would be “reckless and irresponsible” to open up given the rapid spread of Omicron. That decision prompted Qantas Airways Ltd to cut its Australian seat capacity by 10 more percentage points to 60% of pre-pandemic levels for the March quarter.
There are only 83 active cases in the state, compared with 550,000 in the country as a whole, and just a handful of those are Omicron. Some WA travel conditions are still set to change on Feb. 5, including allowing more people in for compassionate reasons, though they would still have to isolate for 14 days.
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