Scott Morrison says healthcare system can cope despite warnings of Covid-19 pressure

Scott Morrison has called for people to ‘manage their own health’ as hospital staff and paramedics feel the strain of soaring Covid-19 cases.

Rising Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations continue to put enormous pressure on parts of Australia’s healthcare system as hospitals grapple with staff shortages and ambulances are delayed.

There are at least 188,000 active coronavirus cases in the country, with almost 2000 people in hospital and almost 150 patients in intensive care, according to the most recent federal government data.

Scott Morrison on Monday insisted the country’s hospitals could cope, saying most people with the Omicron Covid strain would have a much milder illness than with Delta.

The Prime Minister said rising case numbers were part of “the new phase” of the pandemic in which people would need to take responsibility for “managing their own health” at home.

“That doesn’t mean to say it can’t put pressure on the hospital system. It can. And that’s why we’re working very closely with the premiers and chief ministers to make sure those resources are there,” he told Sunrise.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says having some Covid-19 symptoms is not enough of an emergency to call an ambulance. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Morrison reiterated NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s recent pleas for people only to call triple-0 in an emergency.

“Having some Covid symptoms is not a medical emergency,” Mr Morrison said.

Australian Paramedics Association NSW delegate Brett Simpson said earlier that surging cases were leading to record call-outs and creating critical delays.

“We’re seeing priority one emergency cases across Sydney and NSW waiting for over an hour for an ambulance to even attend. That is simply unacceptable and untenable,” he said.

Hospitalisations have doubled in NSW in the week since Christmas to more than 1000 patients, with a record 22,577 daily infections reported on Saturday.

Nurses at some of the state’s hospitals have reportedly been offered cash incentives to cancel their annual leave and staff have been begged to take extra shifts.

NSW Health revealed on Friday that health workers classified as close contacts would be permitted to leave self-isolation in “exceptional circumstances” to minimise disruption at hospitals and testing clinics.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has urged people to focus on ICU presentations rather than daily case numbers. Picture: Richard Dobson

Nurses working at the Willoughby Covid-19 Testing clinic. Picture: NCA Newswire /Gaye Gerard

ICU Society vice-president Mark Nicholls said hospital workers were fatigued after going through the Delta outbreak earlier this year.

“They went through the Delta waves, the experiences were difficult for people. It was a very sick cohort of patients,” he told Today.

“And they were looking forward to a break over the Christmas and new year period, as all of us have been looking forward to it. And leave was scheduled, and that naturally puts pressure on the healthcare system.”

However, Dr Nicholls said the NSW healthcare system was as prepared as it could be and it was coping despite record coronavirus admissions.

Sydney epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws says governments should report how many Covid-19 hospital patients have the Omicron strain. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

University of NSW epidemiology professor Mary-Louise McLaws said she was concerned by the increase in hospitalisations.

“What would help is if the government gave us an idea of those in hospital – how many or what proportion are Omicron,” she told the ABC.

“The majority of cases of Omicron were in the young – under 40. So perhaps that increase in hospitalisation has been mainly due to Delta.

“It’s very difficult to know because, don’t forget, there’s normally about a 10-day delay as cases start to increase.”

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant has said the majority of new cases recorded in her state have been Omicron, which is believed to be more transmissible but less severe than the Delta variant.

Originally published as Scott Morrison says healthcare system can cope despite warnings of Covid-19 pressure