COVID-19 is not going anywhere for the time being; the highly contagious Omicron is here to stay often collaborating with the much rougher Delta variant that is still around.
Australia’s health system is well under pressure with hospitalisations continuously on the rise.
New South Wale patients that are currently in hospital have climbed to 1,491 out of 35,054 reported new cases and eight deaths.
Victoria recorded 17,636 cases and 11 deaths with Tasmania hitting 867 cases.
Meanwhile, several households around the country have taken to social media to complain that the reported numbers are far from accurate as PCR testing site closures and delays continue to cause chaos.
It appears that in several households have unrecorded cases as members of the same family where one has tested positive with a PCR test are unable to get tested and self isolate while bein sick. A similar situation has affected a lot of people in house-sharing arrangements. In order to not be infectious in the community while Rapid Antigen Tests are scarce and expensive, or risk spending days queuing up for a PCR, people tend to stay home while unrecorded.
Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese calls for free RATs as it is clear that there are not enough PCR testing sites or processing capacity.
They need to be increased, not decreased, which is what is happening,” he said, stressing that “they need to make rapid antigen tests available and the simplest way to do that is to make them free.
Expressing his frustration regarding the fact that Australian companies are able to produce PCR tests but are shipping them overseas, he said:
“My message to the PM is this is your job, you can’t say it’s the states or somebody responsible. He said he didn’t hold a hose when it came to the bushfires, now he doesn’t hold a testing kit. He always waits until a problem becomes a crisis before he acts. Well, there is a crisis, he needs to act today.”
As bookings for children’s vaccinations at state-run clinics will open from 1pm today, Victorian Acting Premier Jacinta Allan urged parents to book in in order to protect their children, themselves and the elderly members of their families.
“Victoria has some of the highest rates of child vaccination anywhere in the world,” she said, promising Victorians an additional 10 million rapid antigen tests that have been secured by the state government, with 44 million now on already on the way.
NSW government has also secured more tests, set to be rolled out through PCR testing clinics, according to Premier Dominic Perrottet. This would see the lines move faster, with many people not needing to undergo the longer PCR test. Other RATs will be distributed to vulnerable groups including the homeless and Indigenous communities.
“For the last two years, we’ve been telling people, go get tested, go get tested,” he said.
“But as we move through this next phase of the pandemic, our response has to change as well.”
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