Australia must loosen Covid-19 restrictions to bolster its economic recovery, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has said, even as daily infections rose to a six-week high.

“States need to keep calm and carry on. And not overreact to the Omicron variant,” Frydenberg told reporters in Melbourne, according to a Reuters report.

“Our economic recovery depends upon it. We have the vaccination rates now at record highs and that has proven to be a vital defence against Covid.”