The grim assessment was issued early on Wednesday morning by Health Minister Mark Butler. “It’s likely over coming weeks that millions of Australians will catch Covid-19, some of them catching it again after perhaps having caught it earlier this year,” Mr Butler told Channel 7. “Obviously, we want to reduce that number and limit transmission through people, so think about wearing masks in indoor spaces especially where you cannot socially distance. “But our main focus has to be on reducing the number of people who get severely unwell, who are at risk of attending hospital or even worse.”Speaking to reporters later in Brisbane, the Queensland Premier sounded the alarm.“I think it’s going to get to the stage where in the next two or three weeks we may need a national cabinet meeting,’ Ms Palaszczuk said. “I have already put it out there to the Prime Minister that it would be good, I think, for national cabinet to get an update from the chief health officer if these cases continue to do this upward trend that we’re seeing.”But ultimately she said the onus was on the individual, not government, to enforce mask wearing and get a booster shot if eligible. Hospitals and healthcare workers across the country are struggling under immense pressure of increased admissions amid the current wave. There are more than 4400 Australians in hospital receiving treatment, with 126 in ICU beds.Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese says concession cardholders should stock up on their 10 free rapid antigen tests before the scheme ends at the end of the month. The Prime Minister has repeatedly ruled out extending the program – which was introduced earlier this year. It comes as the government affirms it will not extend the paid pandemic leave scheme. Doctors and pharmacists have urged the federal government not to end the RAT program, which allows those with a Pensioner Concession Card, Low Income Health Care Card and Seniors Card access to up to 10 free rapid antigen tests over three months. Mr Albanese said the government couldn’t afford to keep the program going forever, and put the blame on the previous government. “To be clear, my government has not made this decision. This is a decision that was inherited from the former government,” Mr Albanese said. “I’d encourage concession cardholders to go and get their 10 free rapid antigen tests that they’re eligible for by the end of the month – there’s a lot of time to go and do that.”The Pharmacy Guild of Australia said the decision to end the program was “disappointing and confusing”, and “flies in the face” of the growing number of cases. The federal opposition has called on the government to extend the scheme, and hit back at claims it was hypocritical to call for the extension despite being the one to put the timeline in place in the first place. “Well I think the government has to answer the question about what was the health advice that made it decide it wanted to stop concessional access to free rapid antigen tests, why it decided pandemic leave payments were no longer required and why it cut 70 telehealth services right at the time when we’re seeing a significant wave of Omicron go through Australia,” opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said. “The question is around timing. We put these subsidies and these supports in place for Australians at a time when we were seeing the first Omicron wave in December and January, and we were responding to the conditions that were on the ground at that time. “Obviously they were temporary measures, but as we have done right through the pandemic, we need to be responding to what’s happening on the ground at the time. Things have changed. “I think it’s incumbent on governments to respond to the conditions that are on the ground.”
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