Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged people to "remain calm and get boosted" in the face of an increase in coronavirus infections.

Morrison met with state and territory leaders on Wednesday to discuss the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in Australia. Following the meeting, he announced that one-quarter of the state-run vaccination hubs that closed after Australia had vaccinated 80 percent of its population against Covid would reopen to encourage booster shot uptake.

"Omicron, we all agree, presents a new challenge, but we've already faced so many challenges during this pandemic," Morrison told reporters. "As the country's literacy rate rises above 80 percent , so does demand at state-run clinics. As a result, some of those facilities were closed." "They must now be ramped up again." State and territory leaders have pushed for a reduction in the time between the second and third vaccine doses from five months to three, but Morrison said the final decision would be made by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).

The national cabinet also agreed to reconsider testing requirements for interstate travel, despite the fact that testing sites across the country were swamped in the run-up to Christmas, and to agree on a common definition of a "casual contact" of a positive case.

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