There are now 749 Covid cases in hospital in Victoria – with 31 active cases in intensive care, including eight on a ventilator.And more than 10,500 new cases of Covid were recorded on Thursday. The Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which are now dominant along the east coast of Australia, are expected to continue to cause increases in new cases, reinfections and hospital admissions – with an 83 per cent increase in the number of Victorians in hospital with Covid over the last three weeks.New infections and admissions to hospital with Covid were increasing in Victoria, consistent with national and international trends, the Department of Health said.It comes as the Victorian Greens called on the Andrews government to offer more face coverings to all public transport users at the start of their journey.While masks are compulsory on public transport, nearly half of all passengers don’t actually wear them during their commute.According to May compliance figures, just 53 per cent of train passengers, and 62 per cent of tram users, wore a mask.That dipped from April figures, which showed 62 per cent of people on trains wore masks. The government, which ruled out a return to more mask mandates, has defended itself in recent days, saying it would rather hand out face coverings rather than fines.But Victorian Greens health spokesman Tim Read said the current approach wasn’t working. Dr Read said while the government is reluctant to extend mask mandates, they should at least ensure current mandates are working as well as they can.“With close to 100 per cent of hospital visitors complying with hospital mask rules we have to ask why this isn’t happening on public transport,” he said.“This is because hospital visitors are given a mask as they enter, so the government should do this on public transport by providing masks at the busier stops and stations, in combination with stronger advertising.“We will need a big increase in the use of masks indoors if we are to expect any reduction in viral transmission, and that will require a significant public health advertising campaign.”The state government this week committed to launching a winter health campaign, months after Premier Daniel Andrews criticised the Greens’ for proposing that same initiative. Push to reinstate Covid paymentsOpposition leader Matthew Guy says the Andrews government should advocate to reinstate funding for Victorians struck down with Covid at Monday’s snap national cabinet meeting.It comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces pressure to reinstate pandemic isolation payments, which came to an end on June 30.The $750-a-week self-isolation payments were given to people with no sick leave benefits – including casuals, contract workers and sole traders – to stay home for a week.Federal Health Minister Mark Butler warned millions of Australians could be infected with Covid-19 over the coming months, but said: “We don’t have the financial capacity to continue to fund these emergency payments forever.”The Victorian Premier will return from leave on Monday, in time to attend the meeting with Mr Albanese and state leaders.Asked if Mr Andrews should call for the payments during national cabinet, Mr Guy said: “I’m not going to dictate to him how to do his job. In November, I want to remove him from it and put in a new approach … and that is an approach that is more common sense rather than combative.”“My approach is actually to work with the federal government and other state governments, and the private health sector – not to demonise them,” he added.Mr Guy said the payments should be brought back in “exceptional circumstances” to help vulnerable people.“I think that’s something they probably do need to look at,” he said.“In vulnerable circumstances that have been outlined, yeah, they probably do need to do that.”A Victorian government spokeswoman agreed that consideration should be given to initiatives that help people isolate themselves when they have the virus.“With increasing cases and continued pressure on health systems across the country, it’s as important as ever that people isolate when they have Covid,” she said.“Consideration should be given to continuing any measures which support that.”Victorians can also access the state government’s Australian-first sick pay guarantee, which provides 38 hours a year sick and carer’s pay to eligible casual and contract workers. A top Victorian doctor has also slammed the Federal Government over their decision to end Covid isolation payments and the availability of antivirals. Australian Medical Association Victoria president Dr Roderick McRae said some of their Covid decisions were like “chopping one of their legs off as they tried to write about pedal a bicycle”. “Everything we’re doing today is at the wrong time in the middle of a pretty aggressive winter,” he said. “Just wait three months and make your same announcements.“The Victorian Department of Health, the Victorian Government are working at capacity and doing their best, but at the same time, the Federal Government are making decisions, which are absolutely chopping one of their legs off as they try to pedal a bicycle.”He said there was a disconnect between the two levels of government, as if they were “pulling in opposite directions”. “The Victorian government can say, ‘Don’t sit in the emergency department if you think you’ve got Covid, go over to the respiratory clinic’,” he said. “Well, one they’re full, and they don’t have ready accessibility to the important antiviral medications.” He said while more Australians had recently become eligible for antivirals, availability on the ground was poor. “It’s great to say we’re going to do this but then how do you get the pill into somebody’s hand?” he said. He said removing the Federal Covid isolation payments was a “ridiculous decision” and discouraged minimum wage workers from getting tested and reporting a positive result.“I saw Minister Butler stating, ‘The previous government said this, and we’re just running with it, because you have to stop it at some time’,” he said. “I personally do not disagree. “But this is the wrong time to stop it. “And guess what, there’s a whole lot of other decisions that the previous government had put in place, and they’ve completely turned them around.”Announcing the change to antivirals’ access on July 10, Federal Health Minister Butler said they will help keep people out of hospital. “The former Morrison Government bought hundreds of thousands of doses of these medicines that have been sitting on a shelf instead of being used to help people who are at risk of severe illness,” he said.“I’m pleased this will change, with millions more people now eligible for these treatments.
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