Omicron patient hospitalised in NSW as Queensland prepares for thousands of cars to cross border

A person in New South Wales has been admitted to hospital infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the first Omicron patient to be hospitalised since it arrived in Australia last month.

It comes as thousands of protesters marched through capital cities on Sunday to oppose vaccine mandates, and Western Australia and Queensland prepared to reopen their borders.

Police have urged patience from travellers.

Carroll urged people wanting to visit Queensland from 13 December to travel outside peak hours, and said they should expect significant delays.

The federal government on Sunday announced it would cut the waiting time for Covid-19 vaccine booster shots from six months to five under a plan to counter the spread of the new strain.

Evidence from the UK says the spread of Omicron appears to be doubling every two to three days in that country.

A confirmed Omicron case visited the Argyle House nightclub in Newcastle on 8 December. That case is linked to an earlier outbreak on a party boat cruise on Sydney Harbour a week earlier.

In Victoria, there were no new confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in the past 24 hours. There remain three confirmed cases in total.

Genomic sequencing is also under way to confirm the variant for seven other probable Omicron cases who have tested positive for Covid-19.

The federal government said its decision to bring forward the timeframe for fully vaccinated people to get their booster vaccination from six months to five was motivated by the rapid global spread of Omicron.

Travellers arriving from those countries will follow the rules applying to travellers arriving from other countries.

In Sydney, thousands gathered at Hyde Park to rally against vaccine mandates for a range of workplaces.

The protests were part of a national day of action across the country, with demonstrations also in Queensland, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Hobart