Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, recorded its highest number of daily Covid-19 deaths as the Omicron variant sweeps the country and lawmakers face pressure to close widening supply chain gaps.

The home to Sydney and a third of Australia's 25 million people reported 16 deaths from the coronavirus in the previous day. New South Wales reported 30,062 new infections, near record levels, Reuters reports.

The second-largest state, Victoria, which hosts the Australian Open tennis tournament this month, reported 44,155 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths.