Omicron a ‘whole new threat’, says WA Premier

Western Australia’s Premier says the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has posed a “whole new threat” to the state’s reopening, which has been delayed indefinitely.

Mr McGowan said the biggest concern about the variant was “how easily transmissible and infectious” it is.

“Since the first Omicron case was detected in Australia on December 8, there’s been a 902 per cent increase in hospitalisations in Australia.”