Australia has reported a record number of daily COVID-19 cases for a third consecutive day.

Sydney, January 5 (RHC)-- Australia has reported a record number of daily COVID-19 cases for a third consecutive day.

Officials reported 64,758 new cases on Wednesday, most of them in New South Wales and Victoria, the country’s most populous states.  That compares with about 47,800 on Tuesday.

Total infections have surged more than 50 times from around 1,200 since late November when Omicron was first detected, according to Reuters news agency.

The surge is putting pressure on hospitals – admissions in NSW and Victoria rose 10 percent on Wednesday compared with Tuesday, with NSW Deputy Health Secretary Susan Pearce warning of “challenging weeks” to come.

The health system is under stress not only from the surge in patients, but a lack of manpower because of the increase in COVID-19 cases.  Australians are struggling to find Rapid Antigen tests, with many people frustrated over the cost and availability of rapid testing kits.