Australia reports record Covid-19 cases as Sydney hospitals set up emergency tents
CNNAustralia’s new daily cases of Covid-19 topped 1,000 on Thursday for the first time since the global pandemic began, as two major hospitals in Sydney set up emergency outdoor tents to help deal with a rise in patients. The rapid rise in Covid-19 patients has forced Sydney’s Westmead and Blacktown hospitals, which service the city’s sprawling western suburbs, to erect tents to screen and swab patients to help manage capacity. The makeshift unit in the emergency department for Covid-19 patients will help “to offload delays”, a Western Sydney Local Health District spokesperson told Reuters. The federal government is pushing ahead with the country’s reopening plans once vaccination rates reach 70%-80%, but some states have hinted they may delay given the rapid growth of cases in Sydney.