SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia may use its defence forces to assist handle a COVID-19 outbreak within the aged-care sector that has stretched staffing and compelled many houses into lockdowns, the prime minister stated on Friday as nationwide an infection numbers remained on a downtrend.
The federal government has come beneath stress over the unfold of the Omicron variant in aged-care houses, with Richard Colbeck, minister for senior Australians and aged care providers, drawing criticism after he attended a cricket match as an alternative of showing earlier than a parliamentary committee wanting into the outbreaks.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated he had requested the ministers of defence and well being to see how defence forces may assist care houses, the place many employees have needed to isolate due to infections.
Morrison stated about 560 aged-care residents had died since Omicron hit in late 2021.
He advised reporters the defence power was not a “shadow workforce” for the sector and cautioned towards “easy options to complicated issues” however stated they needed to contemplate choices.
“Whenever you’re the prime minister, and the minister for well being and aged care, and the minister for defence, you need to cope with sensible choices that work,” he stated.
The Australian Defence Pressure has been concerned in managing the pandemic response, with a lieutenant common put in command of the vaccine rollout and troops made a part of the monitoring of lockdowns in massive cities.
Whole day by day COVID-19 infections dipped throughout Australia on Friday and have been on observe to be the bottom in additional than a month, with about 30,000 new circumstances logged within the largest states.
With some states nonetheless to report figures, a complete of 81 deaths had been reported on Friday.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith; Enhancing by Robert Birsel)
Supply: KFGO
