Rapid antigen tests will be locally manufactured in Victoria, the state government has announced. Lumos Diagnostics — who make RATs for Canadian and European markets — will establish a local manufacturing and innovation hub. If approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Lumos will produce one million tests a month from April and three million per month after July. Full production — which would produce up to 50 million tests each year — is expected to begin from October. The government will secure priority supply of several million tests from Lumos to meet demand in the coming months. Premier Daniel Andrews said rapid tests were a “valuable commodity”. The Lumos facility — located in Box Hill — will be able to produce diagnostic tests for infectious diseases, tropical diseases, chronic diseases and reproductive health, in addition to the in-demand rapid tests. The project will create at least 70 ongoing jobs. The state government has provided $268.5m in funding to accelerate coronavirus treatment research. Mr Andrews said manufacturing rapid tests locally would help to protect and secure the state’s supply chain, while also creating local jobs. “Being able to scale up production so quickly shows the strength of Victoria’s advanced manufacturing capabilities,” he said. “Believe me, this is not a cost, it’s an investment. This sets us about. People talk about Boston, they talk about London and they talk about Melbourne.”Mr Andrews said it was impossible to say how long rapid tests would be of use to Victorians because there was no chance of knowing what future variants could be on the horizon. “We don’t know what the future holds, but we can be more confident … knowing we have that supply chain independence,” he said. Innovation, Medical Research and Digital Economy Minister Jaala Pulford said rapid tests have proven to be a “big part of living safely and having a secure, locally made supply will serve us incredibly well”. “School is back, businesses are open and we can spend time with the people we love doing the things we have missed,” Ms Pulford said.Mr Andrews said the state government would continue to source rapid tests from global markets regardless of the decision to build onshore. “I think we’re keen to get our hands on as many as we can,” he said. “We will amass as many of these as we can. They are valuable now and they will be valuable into the future.”Mr Andrews said Victoria would “always look to support those onshore” when asked if the state would provide rapid tests to other states and territories. “We always get better outcomes if we work together,” he said. CONTROVERSIAL SURGERY BAN COULD GOVictoria’s elective surgery ban could be lifted from next week, according to leaked correspondence from one of the state’s largest private hospital operators. A letter to doctors from Ramsay Health state manager Austin Willis, seen by the Herald Sun, stated that the Department of Health has “indicated that restrictions will be revised from urgent only to 50 per cent of allocated lists from the middle of next week”.“We expect to receive formal confirmation of this change by the end of this week and will immediately advise you once this is received so bookings can recommence,” Mr Willis said.“With surgical restrictions in various forms now in place for four months since the start of October, we understand that this is a challenging and frustrating time for you, and in particular for our patients whose much needed care continues to be delayed.“We remain hopeful that through ongoing advocacy with our partners, this date can be brought forward and a clear roadmap provided to remove all ongoing restrictions.”Premier Daniel Andrews has again refused to say when elective surgery will resume in Victoria, but has given the strongest indication yet that some operations could soon start up again. “We think it is possible to resume services in a balanced and cautious way,” Mr Andrews said. A final decision to resume the surgeries is yet to be made, but Mr Andrews said consultation had been occurring between the Department of Health and relevant agencies. He added: “It’ll be better if we all just wait a while and we’ll make the announcements.”The tightening of restrictions in mid-January was done to ensure the system was prepared and had capacity available to deal with a predicted peak in Covid hospitalisations.Health authorities have indicated the predicted peak would appear to have already been reached, with hospitalisations now falling.“The impact of this is that throughout our Victorian hospitals we have wasted resources and capacity, which is clearly unacceptable given the significant impact on our patients, our doctors and our overall hospital communities,” Mr Willis added.“As such, we have been strongly advocating to both state and federal governments for the urgent and immediate resumption of non-urgent elective surgery across the state.”It comes as NSW Health on Tuesday morning revealed non-urgent surgery that required an overnight stay would resume to 75 per cent capacity in private and regional public hospitals from next Monday.The Department of Health has been contacted for comment regarding the leaked letter.Health Minister Martin Foley on Tuesday said he had no update on the resumption of operations. AMA president Omar Khorshid said the state government’s postponement of some elective surgeries had become increasingly unsustainable and should only be used as a “last resort”.“The fact that these are still happening points to the failure of governments to properly invest in public hospital capacity, as well as a failure to undertake the necessary planning needed to avoid this outcome,” Dr Khorshid said. Both the AMA and RACS have called for an urgent plan for the resumption of elective surgery as a priority in both private and public hospitals. They also want a long-term funding arrangement to ensure the backlog is cleared. “One-off funding packages and elective surgery blitzes will not be enough to address the impact that the last two years have had on our stressed health system,” he said.“The longer we wait to act on essential surgery, the sicker Australians will become, and the more expensive their care will be.”But the nursing union called for the Andrews government to keep the ban in place, saying their workforce was exhausted and “hyper-stressed”. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Victorian branch Acting Secretary Paul Gilbert said healthcare workers shouldn’t be treated “like robots”. “We need more time to help nurses and midwives, who have held our health system together in a once-in-a-century crisis to debrief, understand what they have just been through and take some time to recharge.”Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said there was “simply no justification to deny Victorians the critical care they need” when hospitalisations had fallen under 900. On Wednesday morning, Victoria recorded 14,553 new cases and 25 deaths.Covid-related hospitalisations in Victoria dropped to 768 on Wednesday, a decline from 851 on Tuesday.The number of people in ICU also dropped from 106 to 99, but one more person was put on a ventilator – 31 in total.COVID HITS 120 SCHOOLSAt least 120 Victorian schools have recorded Covid-19 outbreaks – just two days into the school year. More than 150 new cases were recorded at state schools on the second day back in the classroom.Despite the cases alarming some parents, a hopeful Deputy Premier James Merlino said the numbers proved the system was working as it was detecting the cases that would otherwise be covert. “We know that there will be an increase, as you have a million students going back at school with all the teachers and all the staff,” Mr Merlino said.The City of Bayside has been hardest hit in the reopening, with 21 schools in the council area recording cases. Students and staff are strongly recommended to do a rapid antigen test twice a week for the first four weeks of term.However, the testing is not mandated. Department of Education and Training deputy secretary David Howes said the numbers were comprised of “about 101 students … and about 55 staff”.“Schools have been reporting that parents have been … very pleased to have access to these tests, and we’re not getting any reports of adamant refusal – not in any significant numbers anyway,” Mr Howes said. The state government is reportedly relying on modelling showing the testing program does not require 100 per cent compliance to still be effective.REPORTS OF RATS RIP-OFFS RISINGComplaints to Australia’s consumer watchdog over a spike in the cost of rapid antigen tests have continued to soar despite probes into prices at pharmacies and supermarkets.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has received almost 4000 reports from consumers about prices being charged for RATs around the country between December 25 last year and January 26 amid rising demand for the tests as Omicron cases surged. Pharmacies are reportedly the biggest culprits for price hikes with 34 per cent, or 1309, complaints made about the sector since Christmas. 781 complaints have been made about petrol stations such as BP, while the watchdog received 764 complaints about supermarkets and tobacconists including IGA stores. The complaints surged amid tip-offs that rapid tests were being illegally resold without being properly tested for use in Australia.Almost 95 per cent of the complaints were about the price of rapid antigen tests, with some reports alleging single tests in some stores were being sold for $30 each.ACCC chair Rod Sims said businesses caught price gouging on rapid tests would be named and shamed because the high number of complaints showed the community was concerned about the cost and quality of the rapid tests available.NED-5151-Covid-19-booster-shots-graphic“Community concerns about sales practices for rapid antigen tests remain very high, for good reason,” Mr Sims said. “Businesses now know we will be in touch very quickly if they choose to impose unjustifiably high mark-ups on rapid antigen tests, or make misleading statements to consumers.”The average cost of a rapid test has reportedly sat at about $24 since January 12.“While $20 retail prices remain lower than the more extreme reports received by the ACCC, this is still an unusually high mark-up that in our view is very difficult to justify,” Mr Sims said.
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