Medical experts have criticized federal and state governments for “inconsistent” messages around the impending winter virus wave, with new facial mask rules nearly ruled out nationwide.
It comes when unions launch a new call on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to reverse the decision to remove paid leave for people with Covid-positives forced to isolate themselves, asking the Labor government to restore the benefit until they change the rules of isolation.
“We have a population that believes, and governments that do, that Covid is in the rearview mirror, that we have overcome the worst, that it is time to abolish any of the measures and move on with life,” he said. expert in infectious diseases, Professor Brendan Crabb, director general of the Burnet Institute.
“It’s always been wrong to do this, since Omicron came along.”
State and federal governments have raised warnings that the number of Covid cases will increase in the coming weeks as Australia fights new outbreaks of variants BA.4 and BA.5. Federal Health Minister Mark Butler warned this week that cases “will continue to rise for a while,” with Covid’s hospital admissions at their highest level since February.
Australia recorded close to 42,000 cases and 35 deaths in the last 24 hours. On Friday, Australia’s Main Health Protection Committee (AHPPC) reviewed its official advice on reinfection periods from 12 weeks to 28 days, warning that the new variants “are associated with increased immune leakage and is we are likely to see reinfection rates increase. ”
But despite terrible warnings, politicians have poured cold water into talking about reinstating mandates on masks, vaccines or public health measures, even though they encourage people to wear masks voluntarily.
Authorities in Queensland and New South Wales said mask warrants were unlikely to be reintroduced. Although the new Victorian health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, did not rule out mask rules or work orders from home in the future, she told 3AW radio that “several ideas have been put forward but not ideas have been taken “.
Butler said Wednesday that extending mask mandates would be “difficult to maintain,” but recommended that people wear masquerades in crowded or high-risk areas.
In its statement recommending an extension of eligibility for the fourth vaccinations against Covid, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (Atagi) said masks could be key to reducing the number of cases and hospitals, in addition to vaccinations.
“Atagi advises that other public health and social measures, in addition to vaccination, will have the greatest impact against the increase in Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 infections,” he said.
“This includes increased use of masks and increased use of antiviral treatment in people diagnosed with Covid-19, even in people 50 years of age or older.”
Crabb said Australian authorities had “dug into a strategic hole” to reverse public health measures, worried people may not follow Covid’s regulations in the future.
He suggested that the authorities could more strongly recommend the use of masks in the hope of generating public support before any mandate.
“The vaccines are brilliant, but not enough. No one wants to shut down or do anything restrictive if we can avoid it, but we have to say, ‘Here are the tools, we’d like you to use them,'” Crabb said.
Dr Chris Moy, vice-president of the Australian Medical Association, criticized politicians for dismissing mask mandates, saying it was “totally premature”.
“We understand the difficulty of getting citizens to reverse their thinking, after an election campaign that created a false sense of security. But now we are facing another wave and I have felt more concern among the health authorities than I have felt for a long time. “
Separately, the Australian Council of Trade Unions is calling on the federal government to restore paid pandemic leave for people to be isolated after Covid infection. The payment, made to encourage people to follow the rules of isolation if they had exhausted all sick leave provided by the employer, ended on June 30th.
“We are concerned that the premature end of this payment will leave thousands of workers with the impossible option of obeying isolation rules or paying their bills,” ACTU President Michele O’Neil said.
“We learned this lesson early in the pandemic, and that’s dangerous for them, the people they work with and the whole community. This is a public health issue.”
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O’Neil said all states and territories still required Covid-positive patients to be isolated for a week and asked Albanese to reinstate payment.
On July 1, Butler defended the change, saying the government did not have “the financial capacity to continue funding these emergency measures forever.”
“This is a very broad situation in the labor market that applies to all diseases. There is no taxpayer capacity to continue funding all labor market gaps for people who do not have access to sick leave, ”he told Radio National.