Dr Roderick McRae, President of the Victorian Branch of the Medical Association of Australia. Credit: Joe Armao
The Victorian government said it had no intention of reintroducing a brown code, after the statement was made for nearly a month in January.
In secret modeling for the state government, the Burnet Institute has projected that Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants could outpace the increase in summer hospitalizations, when 1,200 beds were filled with patients with COVID-19.
Large hospitals have already begun to delay some elective surgeries and hospitals are rapidly expanding emergency services.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it had been reported that wave BA.4 and BA.5 are expected to peak in August.
Ahead of Saturday’s national cabinet emergency meeting, NSW Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet suggested that states and territories could review mandatory isolation periods for positive people with COVID from seven days to five, or even less, once the current increase has passed.
“Ultimately, we need to get to a point where if you’re sick you stay home and if you’re not sick, you can go to work,” he told news.com.au.
Addressing the media after the cabinet meeting, Albanese refuted the issue. He said professor in chief physician Paul Kelly had advised that now was not the time to change isolation tips.
“But this is something that will continue to be monitored and come from health experts,” Albanese said.
Victoria Tourism Minister Steve Dimopoulos said the current state restrictions were minimal, but were “prudent and sensible” to help keep Victoria open.
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Going sick to work “was no longer acceptable,” he said. “We know the risk this poses to the entire community, let alone to your office in your immediate work community.”
Dimopoulos praised the federal government’s decision to reinstate the $ 750 isolation payment, which will be shared with states over the coming months.
“For us, the principle of staying home when you’re sick is fundamentally important … any measure that allows people, [and] Encouraging people to stay home when they are sick is a measure that is worth putting on the table and worth supporting ”.
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