As Australia braces for an onslaught of Covid cases, the Prime Minister announced the worst is still to come.
As Australia battles through one of the most difficult winters in recent memory with Covid and flu cases running rampant in the community, there may be cause for cautious optimism.
Speaking to reporters after a national cabinet meeting with state and territory leaders on Saturday morning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed Covid cases are expected to peak next month.
“It is expected from the indications of (Chief Medical Officer) Kelly that we can expect an increase in the number of cases over coming weeks,” he said.
“That is likely and the advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) is that it is likely to peak in August.”
The announcement comes as Australia faces a recent surge of Covid cases, with a whopping 43,491 cases reported in the last 24 hours across the country.
Experts say pandemic fatigue and complacency are partly to blame for the soaring case numbers after nearly two years of living in fear of the virus.
In total, Australia has endured nearly 8.7m Covid cases since the start of the pandemic, according to the Australian Health Department.
On Friday, Prime Minister Albanese cautioned Australians to remain vigilant and take measures to protect themselves from Covid.
“We know the Covid pandemic is not over and people should continue to act in accordance with the health advice,” he said.
The chief health officer compared the infectiousness of the current strains of Omicron to measles, which Mr Albanese noted was a “sobering thought”.
As case numbers are forecast to rise even further, the Prime Minister urged Australians to take advantage of widely-available Covid booster vaccinations which he labelled “absolutely critical”.
“If you are eligible to get a booster, get it,” he emphasised.
“They are free, they help protect your health and help alleviate the impact of Covid – including the new variants.”
On Saturday, the federal government came together with state and territory leaders to pledge to provide consistent messaging around Covid protection measures in line with expert medical advice.
“These include wearing masks indoors where appropriate, where people are mixing and can‘t have social distancing, it makes sense for that to be highly encouraged,” he said.
“Also getting tested, practising good respiratory hygiene and where it is, where people are contacts and it is appropriate for people to work from home.”
The warning to expect further Covid cases comes as the government announced a backflip on its previous decision to allow pandemic leave payments to expire.
Mr Albanese said the change in position was due to the rising case numbers over the winter months.
“What we have seen with this new wave of variance is a change in health circumstances, and when the health circumstances change, we have responded,” he said.
Originally published as Covid cases surge in Australia with the peak weeks away
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