Australia's NSW state reimposes mask wearing indoors

Australia on Thursday reported a major spike in coronavirus infections, prompting the worst-hit state of New South Wales to reimpose mask wearing indoors.

The surge in infections comes a day after Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison rejected lockdowns or mask mandates for the entire country to slow the spread of the omicron variant. The state of New South Wales recorded 5,715 new cases, up from 3,763 and almost as many as were recorded across all of Australia on Wednesday.  New South Wales also reported one death. There were 347 people in New South Wales hospitals, up from 302 the previous day, and 45 in intensive care units, up from 40.