Australia has reported its first confirmed death from the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 amid another surge in daily infections, but the authorities have refrained from imposing new restrictions saying hospitalisation rates remain low, Reuters reports.

The death, a man in his 80s with underlying health conditions, marked a grim milestone for the country which has had to pause some parts of a staged reopening after nearly two years of stop-start lockdowns, due to the fresh outbreak.

The authorities gave no additional details about the Omicron death, except to say that the man caught the virus at an aged care facility and died in a Sydney hospital.

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