Australians urged to work from home as winter Omicron wave swamps hospitals

Wednesday's 53,850 new Covid cases was the highest daily tally in two months

Australia is in the grip of a third Omicron wave driven by the highly transmissible new subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5. Picture: AP Photo/Rick Rycroft

Australians admitted to hospitals from Covid-19 neared record levels on Wednesday as authorities urged businesses to let staff work from home and recommended people wear masks indoors and get booster shots urgently amid a major coronavirus outbreak.

Australia is in the grip of a third Omicron wave driven by the highly transmissible new subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, with more than 300,000 cases recorded over the past seven days.