Fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, Australia's daily coronavirus infections have soared to a fresh peak and overwhelmed hospitals even as isolation rules have caused labour shortages, putting a strain on businesses and supply chains.

With the count of the last 24 hours still incomplete, Australia so far has reported 72,392 new infections, easily exceeding the high of 64,774 set a day earlier.

Having successfully kept a lid in its Covid-19 caseload through aggressive lockdowns earlier in the pandemic, Australia is now suffering infections rates far higher than elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, and some epidemiologists in the country predict that the worst is yet to come.

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