Australians have been warned to mask up as the Health Minister issued a dire warning about the wave of Covid cases.
Australians have been told to shake their Covid complacency as the Health Minister issued a dire warning that the latest Omicron wave could last another six weeks.
The BA. 4 and BA. 5 Omicron subvariants comprise the bulk of new Covid-19 infections in Australia.
Across Australia, there are more than 4300 people hospitalised with the virus.
Federal modelling indicated that figure and case numbers were only going to continue to grow over the next four to six weeks, Mark Butler said.
“We’re going to continue to see case numbers rise, we’re going to continue to see increased pressure on our hospitals,” he told 3AW.
Around 300 people are dying of Covid every week, but Mr Butler said he did not have an official prediction of how many people would lose their lives over the course of the wave.
It comes as the nation also grapples with a concurrent surge in influenza cases.
Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly said it could lead to some states holding off on elective surgeries.
“All of that together has caused issues in our hospitals, and so (postponing elective surgeries) is a pretty standard thing to be done at this time of year during the winter season,” he told ABC TV on Tuesday.
“With this increase now in the new variant of Covid, that has exacerbated that problem.”
State governments have moved quickly to implement the recommendation from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee to slash the Covid-19 reinfection period from 12 weeks to four.
But governments at every level have been reluctant to reintroduce mask mandates in indoor spaces, opting instead to “strongly encourage” people to cover up.
Mr Butler suggested it was a symptom of the community’s Covid fatigue but indicated his support for masks in crowded indoor spaces.
“I don’t see a position where governments are going to start sort of ordering people to do that (wear masks),” he said.
“I’m not sure that wouldn’t be counter-productive, given where the community is at.”
Meanwhile, the federal government has quietly confirmed a program granting pensioners and concession card holders access to free rapid antigen tests would finish at the end of July.
Mr Butler said it was the “right time” to end the scheme given the amount of free RATs in the community.
“Pensioners and concession cardholders can still get their allocation of up to 10 tests before the end of this month which should carry them through for a period of time,” he added.
“There are still free RATs. There are so many RATs in the community right now.”
Originally published as Aussies issued dire warning about rising Covid cases
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