Australia will continue to ease restrictions ahead of Christmas despite a further increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country’s most populous state, officials said on Tuesday. The state of New South Wales, where Sydney is located, reported more than 800 new cases on Tuesday since 2 October, particularly due to gatherings held as part of year-end celebrations. Officials have said these new infections will not prevent the lifting of some measures from Wednesday, such as wearing masks in public or banning unvaccinated people from entering restaurants, bars and restaurants. Participate in big events. “We have decided to live with this virus (…),” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, referring to the high vaccination rates. “This Christmas we are about to spend is a gift that Australians have given themselves, thanks to the way they have worked together and the measures we have taken,” he said. After long chasing the goal of zero Covid cases through strict border closures and prolonged confinement in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia reopened internal and external borders, welcoming skilled migrants once again, from Wednesday. has continued. After a slow start to the vaccination campaign, more than 93% of Australians over the age of 16 have now received at least one dose, and 89% have received two. Australia has detected more than 85 cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant since it emerged in the country. Many Western countries have begun to reimpose restrictions and step up vaccination campaigns in the face of rising infections. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazard said he was “very concerned” that too few people received a third dose, while he pledged not to enforce the new lockdown. Announcing plans for a Moderna vaccine manufacturing plant in Melbourne, Morrison stressed that Australia is “better prepared than almost any other country to face the situation and continue to live with the virus.” Australia has recorded more than 230,000 cases of COVID-19 and has killed 2,113 people in a population of 25 million.