Victoria takes swipe at PM over tests

Speaking to the media on Monday Mr Foley, slammed Scott Morrison for shifting the burden to state leaders.

“What we’re seeing consistently from the Prime Minister is his ability to transfer responsibility to the states, ”he said.

“That’s just the way this Prime Minister operates.

“The states clearly have a view that freely available rapid antigen testing, as part of an ongoing response to Omicron, forms part of what should be a national response.

“In lieu of that national response, the states have to fill the void.”

Mr Foley said he expected the first few hundred thousand rapid antigen tests, which are part of a 34 million order by the Andrews government, would start arriving this week.

But he wouldn’t give specifics as to how many would arrive in the first shipment.

“Until we see them on the tarmac, we’ll be a little bit sceptical,” Mr Foley said.

Mr Morrison earlier on Monday declared the government would not be making rapid antigen tests free despite a sharp rise in case numbers triggering huge queues at testing sites across the nation.

The Prime Minister claimed Australia was now at a stage of the pandemic where not everything could be made free.“ We already make them free to everyone who is required to have one,” Mr Morrison told Sunrise.

“They are also tax deductible.

“We are now at this stage of the pandemic we just cannot make everything free because when someone tells you they will make something free, someone will always pay for it, and it is going to be you.”

Plans were under way to finalise concessional arrangements for pensioners, Mr Morrison explained.

Meanwhile health authorities in Victoria issued an urgent warning on Monday, telling people not to turn up to the emergency department at several of the state’s hospitals.

Western Health posted a message on social media on Monday saying the emergency departments at Sunshine, Footscray and Williamstown hospitals were under “extreme pressure”.

“Please do not attend the emergency department unless absolutely necessary,” they wrote.

“Those with mild Covid symptoms seeking PCR or rapid tests should not attend. Thank you for your co-operation.”

The warning came after Victoria reported 8577 new cases of Covid-19 and three deaths overnight, breaking the record for the state’s highest daily figure for infections.

Monday’s figures were up from 7172 on Sunday, while hospitalisations have risen from 472 to 491.

There are 46 active cases in intensive care, 24 of which are on ventilators – two more than Sunday.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said 23,000 cases had been reported in the first three days of 2022, more than the entire number throughout 2020.

He said about one in five people were returning a positive PCR result.

It is taking longer for people to get their results because the labs are now having to process all tests individually.

Previously, labs would group several test results together and re-examine a sample if it returned a positive result.

“I’d like to apologise to everybody who’s waiting on your PCR results – it’s because we are seeing far more positive cases,” Mr Weimar said.

The worrying update follows admissions by the state government that the Omicron variant is fuelling the growing tally, with the more infectious strain spreading rapidly since arriving in December.

Though experts suggest early indications show it is not as severe as the Delta strain.

NSW recorded 20,794 new infections on Monday as the state grapples with escalating case numbers.

Originally published as ‘Just how he operates’: Martin Foley takes aim at Scott Morrison over rapid tests