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Tasmania has reported 26 more coronavirus cases, the most recorded in the apple isle in a single day since the start of the pandemic.
The latest infections, reported on Thursday, bring the island state’s number of active cases to 52.
All of those have been recorded since Tasmania reopened to fully vaccinated travellers from the mainland on December 15.
Twenty-eight infections are being managed at home, 10 are in a community case management facility and 12 are still being assessed or processed.
One COVID-positive person is in hospital with an alternative medical condition.
Premier Peter Gutwein has defended the state government’s reopening plan, after the Greens called for Tasmania to again close to Victoria, NSW and the ACT.
Mr Gutwein virtually attended Wednesday’s national cabinet meeting, where federal officials stopped short of recommending all states and territories mandate wearing masks indoors.
Tasmania had already implemented a mask mandate for all indoor venues, plus public transport and ride-sharing services.
After the meeting, Mr Gutwein said he urged NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet to reinstate some public health measures as cases surge in the state.
“NSW seems to be the one outlier in all of this,” he said.
“I don’t think that it’s appropriate that no contact tracing, other than in high-risk areas, occurs and they haven’t as yet mandated masks.”
Western Australia will establish a hard border with Tasmania from Boxing Day in response to the state’s rising cases. Mr Gutwein said he wasn’t briefed on the change before it was announced.