Australia's Covid-19 infections hovered near-record levels on Tuesday as a surge of infections caused by the Omicron variant put a strain on hospitals already stretched by staff isolating after being exposed to the virus.

After successfully containing the coronavirus for most of the pandemic, Australia has been swamped by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant after authorities eased mitigation measures as high vaccination rates were reached.

Australia has reported about 1.1 million cases since the pandemic began, with more than half of those in the last two weeks, including nearly...