was higher than expected. italy, the first western country to be hit by the covid 19 pandemic early last year, said omicron infections now account for 28% of cases. but daily caseloads of coronavirus remain well below some other european countries, such as britain and germany. aruna iyengar, bbc news. in australia, the omicron variant is also spreading fast. in new south wales the country s most populous state the number of hospitalised covid patients has nearly doubled over the last week. and the state government has proposed charging unvaccinated people for their covid medical care. the idea would be a departure from australia s system of universal health care, and has been widely criticised. here s our australia correspondent, shaimaa khalil. this idea was mentioned by the new south wales state health minister, brad hazzard. he was speaking to local media, and he was saying that the new south wales state government is considering whether to
pandemic earlier last year, said omicron infections now account for 28% of cases, but daily caseloads of coronavirus remain well below some other european countries, such as britain and germany. aruna iyengar, bbc news. meanwhile the pandemic is causing further disruption in the world of top flight football. two more premier league games have been called off due to the ongoing problems with the pandemic. liverpool s game with leeds and wolves match at home to watford have been postponed because the number of positive covid cases means some teams have insufficient players to fulfil their fixtures. it brings the total number of games cancelled this month in the premier league to 12. to australia now where the omicron variant is also spreading fast. in new south wales the country s most populous state the number of hospitalised covid patients has nearly doubled over the last week. and the state government has proposed charging unvaccinated people for their covid medical care. the i
for a lot of patients, and what we also did see in last weeks is that the number of people that died, in the total of the netherlands, was higher than expected. italy, the first western country to be hit by the covid 19 pandemic earlier last year, said omicron infections now account for 28% of cases, but daily caseloads of coronavirus remain well below some other european countries, such as britain and germany. aruna iyengar, bbc news. the omicron variant is also spreading fast in australia. in new south wales the country s most populous state the number of hospitalised covid patients has nearly doubled over the last week. and the state government has proposed charging unvaccinated people for their covid medical care. the idea would be a departure from australia s system of universal health care, and has been widely criticised.
mask wearing will become compulsory outdoors for the second time. and, in the netherlands, with shops, restaurants and cinemas closed dutch people and businesses face a very bleak christmas. rising cases mean hospitals have had to cancel other types of surgery. there are now 600 at the icus. but it was at the cost of that we postponed the urgent surgeries for a lot of patients, and what we also did see in last weeks is that the number of people that died, in the total of the netherlands, was higher than expected. italy, the first western country to be hit by the covid i9 pandemic earlier last year, said omicron infections now account for 28% of cases, but daily caseloads of coronavirus remain well below some other european countries, such as britain and germany. aruna iyengar, bbc news.