Sharjah24 - Reuters: Hospital admissions for COVID-19 in Australia have reached a new high for a second straight day, data showed on Tuesday, while the daily death toll rose to its second-highest as an outbreak fuelled by a coronavirus sub-variant sweeps the country.

Nearly 5,600 patients infected with COVID are in hospital while 100 new deaths were reported, just short of a record 102 deaths on Saturday.

Nearly 330,000 infections have been reported over the last seven days but authorities say the real numbers could be double that.

"It's time to come together again and fight: get vaccinated, use a mask in crowds and indoors, and stay home if you're sick," said the premier of hard-hit Queensland state, Annastacia Palaszczuk.

The COVID flare-up is being driven by the highly infectious BA.4/5 Omicron sub-variant, and it is putting severe pressure on hospitals and retirement homes.

Queensland, battling its worst outbreak in the pandemic, expects its patient numbers to peak in around late August, modelling from the state's health department showed.

Along with rising hospitalisations, many front-line workers are off sick or in isolation, worsening the crisis.

Hospitals will add beds and shift more staff to front-line duties, Palaszczuk said.