Australia's Omicron outbreak close to its peak, Chief Medical Officer
January 15, 2022, 8:15 am

Australia's Omicron outbreak close to its peak, Chief Medical Officer

Covid-19-test/Pixabay

The Xinhua reported that Australia's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Paul Kelly declared on Saturday he was optimistic that the country's Omicron outbreak was close to its peak.

Kelly said there were "signs for hope" that the record-breaking wave of COVID-19 infections that has accounted for more than 1 million cases since December has peaked.

"In terms of the actual of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are signs for hope," he told reporters in Canberra.

He said: "Now the actual forecasting based on actual numbers of cases, particularly in New South Wales but also in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, leads me to believe that we are close to the peak of this wave in terms of cases."

Australia-Melbourne-Intersection/Pixabay

According to health departments from states and territories, Australia on Saturday reported more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 50 deaths.

Kelly on Saturday morning spoke alongside Health Minister Greg Hunt, who announced that Australia has reached a 95-percent first dose vaccination rate among people aged 16 and older.

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Hunt said: "But we want to go further. We want to continue to encourage Australians to come forward."

Approximately 92.5 percent of people aged 16 and older have received two vaccine doses.

On Friday night former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd accused the federal government of using Novak Djokovic's visa to distract from COVID-19 issues.

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Incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement on Friday night that the world No. 1 tennis star's visa was canceled just days out from the Australian Open "on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so."

In response, Rudd, who served as PM twice between 2007 and 2010 and again in 2013, said the move was politically motivated.

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He wrote on social media: "One big political distraction from empty shelves & the national shortage of boosters & RATs (rapid antigen tests)."

The Federal Court will hear Djokovic's legal appeal against the visa cancellation on Sunday morning.

Source: xinhua

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
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Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
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