VIRUS DISEASES – AUSTRALIA

Morrison sees chance of a lifetime

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 2-Feb-22

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has conceded that the federal government has made some key mistakes in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amongst other things, Morrison has admitted that he underestimated the seriousness of the Omicron outbreak going into the summer months, while he should have put Lieutenant-General John Frewen in charge of the vaccine rollout from the outset. Morrison has also stated that Australia has a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to reduce the unemployment rate to below four per cent. His target of a 3.75 per cent jobless rate in the second half of 2022 is more ambitious than that of the Reserve Bank, which expects it to reach this level by the end of 2023.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

NSW to resume non-urgent elective surgery

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Original article by
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 2-Feb-22

New South Wales recorded 12,818 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, and an additional 30 deaths from the current outbreak. The latest fatalities include a man in his 30s who had received two vaccine doses and had no significant underlying health conditions; chief health officer Kerry Chant says this underlines the importance of getting a booster shot. Meanwhile, Health Minister Brad Hazzard has advised that hospitals will resume performing non-urgent elective surgery on 7 February. Victoria has reported 11,311 new cases and 34 deaths, while there have been 7,588 new infections and 10 deaths in Queensland.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. MINISTRY OF HEALTH

Private hospital staff diverted to public system on deadliest day of Covid pandemic

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Original article by Mostafa Rachwani, Sarah Martin
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Jan-22

The federal government has activated emergency measures which will make more than 100,000 employees of private hospitals available to work in public hospitals that are dealing with staff shortages and a rising COVID-19 caseload. The activation of the surge plan coincided with Australia recording 77 deaths from the coronavirus on Tuesday; it was the nation’s biggest one-day toll since the pandemic began, and included 36 deaths in NSW, 22 in Victoria and 16 in Queensland. NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant says 33 of the people who died in the state had been vaccinated, although most had not received a booster shot. There were 29,830 new COVID-19 cases in NSW on Tuesday, a total of 20,180 in Victoria and 15,962 in Queensland.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. MINISTRY OF HEALTH

Covid isolation rules may be cut to five days

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Original article by Tom McIlroy, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 19-Jan-22

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg notes that some countries have reduced the isolation period for people with COVID-19 from 7-10 days to just five. He has not ruled out a similar move in Australia to help address a labour shortage in key sectors. Frydenberg says isolation rules are under constant review and stressed that health settings will remain "pragmatic and proportionate". Chief medical officer Paul Kelly concedes that shorter isolation periods would increase the risk of community transmission. Some state governments have already reduced the isolation period for people with the virus to seven days.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

Liberals slam unions’ strike threat on rapid antigen tests

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Original article by Jess Malcolm
The Australian – Page: 4 : 19-Jan-22

The federal government has criticised the ACTU for raising the prospect of strike action if workers are not given free rapid antigen tests. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has warned that industrial action at this stage of the pandemic would punish Australian families, while Health Minister Greg Hunt says the provision of free rapid tests across all sectors would "destroy" the supply chain. Frydenberg has also rejected claims that the government has adopted a ‘let it rip’ approach to COVID-19. Labor leader Anthony Albanese says businesses should not have to bear the cost of providing their employees with rapid antigen tests.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ICU numbers still much lower than Delta’s worst

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: Online : 7-Jan-22

NSW had 131 people with COVID-19 in ICU on Thursday, while the state had 206,667 known active cases. The number of people in ICU is significantly down on the number of people that were in ICU in NSW hospitals at the peak of its Delta wave in September, when there were just 27,997 active cases and 242 in ICU. A similar decline can be seen in Victoria, which had 61,120 known active cases on Thursday and 51 people in ICU. At the height of its Delta wave in October, it had 25,035 active cases and 163 people in ICU.

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Call for calm: rampant Omicron not as severe

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Michael McKenna, Jess Malcolm
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 22-Dec-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out the reintroduction of lockdowns to combat COVID-19, arguing that the nation must shift from a "culture of mandates" to a "culture of responsibility". The snap meeting of the national cabinet on Wednesday will receive updated modelling from the Doherty Institute; according to its worst-case scenario, about 200,000 people in Australia could become infected with the Omicron variant each day by late January unless action is taken to curb its spread. However, infectious diseases expert Peter Collignon says overseas evidence suggests that the new variant does not result in higher rates of hospitalisation or death than the Delta strain.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

No lockdowns or border bans over Omicron

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Original article by Simon Benson, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 5 : 1-Dec-21

State and territory leaders have ruled out lockdowns and domestic border closures in response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A meeting of the national cabinet on Tuesday agreed to press ahead with the roadmap for reopening the remaining state borders, and backed the federal government’s decision to delay reopening the nation’s international borders to eligible visa holders by two weeks. Any returned travellers who have visited one of nine southern African countries that of concern will be required to go into hotel quarantine for 14 days, while other international arrivals must self-isolate at home for 72 hours. There are six confirmed cases of the Omicron strain in Australia; they are all said to either have mild symptoms or are ­asymptomatic.

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National booster program launched with Pfizer in pharmacies

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Original article by Rachel Clun, Lucy Carroll
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 8-Nov-21

The federal government will ramp up the national COVID-19 vaccination rollout, with pharmacies to begin offering booster shots from 8 November. The Pfizer booster dose will be available to all Australians who have been fully vaccinated for at least six months; about 173,000 booster doses have already been administered to people such as healthcare workers and aged-care residents. Meanwhile, pharmacies will now be able to offer all three Pfizer doses, while the Moderna vaccine will be available from GPs. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Sonya Bennett says that booster shots are likely to be needed periodically, but they will probably not be required every year. Some 80.5 per cent of Australians aged 16+ are now fully vaccinated, and 89.3 per cent have had one vaccine dose.

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PFIZER INCORPORATED, MODERNA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

Aged-care boosters on agenda as TGA backs third-jab plan

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Original article by Natasha Robinson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 28-Oct-21

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has formally approved the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine as a booster shot. It will be administered six months after a person has received their first dose of any coronavirus vaccine. Studies have suggested that the efficacy of vaccines declines significantly 3-6 months after they have been administered. However, TGA head John Skerritt has stressed that two doses of an approved vaccine provides strong protection against serious illness, hospitalisation and death. Aged-care residents will be given priority for booster shots, which are expected to become available to the general population from 8 November.

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AUSTRALIA. THERAPEUTIC GOODS ADMINISTRATION