“But that’s where we are, doing better than almost any other country in the world when it comes to even the large number of more than 350 deaths in the course of the past week.
“Our death rate that relates to Omicron is one of the lowest in the world. So we have to keep pushing through because we’ve demonstrated that resilience and the actions we’ve been taking to deal with Omicron have been many.”
Asked why he did not order more RAT kits last year, Mr Morrison blamed the change from the Delta strain of the coronavirus to the Omicron strain at the end of last year.
“We accept our share of the responsibility when it comes to providing the tests that we are responsible to provide. States and territories have always had the responsibility [for] providing those tests in their states,” he said.
“In June or August we were in Delta. In June or August we were not in Omicron. And Omicron completely changed all of the expectations.”
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the government had failed to plan for the newer strain and should make RATs free because companies and workers needed them to keep the economy running.
Loading
“We had months to prepare for this. The Commonwealth government, just like with the rollout of the vaccine, said it’s not a race, someone else’s problem, and didn’t act,” he said.
The federal government has promised 10 million RATs for the states this week and next and talked of another 70 million on the way, while state leaders have also ordered more kits.
But there is confusion over the obligation on employers to test their workers under the public health orders and the workplace safety laws in each state and territory.
Mr Morrison said the Commonwealth chief medical officer, Professor Paul Kelly, had told him daily tests were not needed for most workers.
“The clear medical advice to me from the chief medical officer [is] that, except in quite specific circumstances, like aged care or health workforces and things of that nature, there is no requirement for workers to be tested on a daily basis with rapid antigen tests.
“Those resources should be targeted towards the priority sectors like health and aged care and other critical sectors that are identified, things like meat processing, for example, where there is a much higher rate of infection that occurs in those workplaces.”
Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said the RAT kit shortage made it impossible for some employers to meet some of the state requirements.
“In Victoria, for example, daily testing every day over five days for close contacts who return to work under critical worker exemptions could be replaced by the national cabinet proposed return to work with a negative day one RAT and a RAT at every second day until day six,” he said.
“Once tests are available and government support is provided for businesses to cover the costs of the tests, the issues will largely go away.”
Under NSW public health orders critical workers who become close contacts can continue to attend work if they undertake daily rapid antigen testing for seven days.
Business Council of Australia executive director Jess Wilson said the country needed consistent rules nationwide about when and how rapid tests should be used in workplaces.
“It is essential states work together so we have uniformity of rules and testing requirements across borders,” she said.
A NSW government spokesman said there was no blanket requirement that employees submit to daily rapid antigen testing.
“It may be useful in some businesses based on an assessment of individual risk – for example, if employees work with vulnerable members of the community or for reasons of critical business continuity,” he said.
with Lucy Cormack
PM urges states to ease testing rules, sparking more backlash about RAT supplies
Source: Philippines Alive
