’Forgotten’ victims of food supply crisis revealed as expert issues grim new warning

Australians continue to battle bare supermarket shelves and sold-out rapid tests, but a surprising new group is now set to be hit by the crisis.

An unexpected new group is set to be impacted by Australia’s worsening supply crisis, with food deliveries to hundreds of hospitals and nursing homes now at risk.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other senior government officials will continue crisis talks on Wednesday to decide which essential industries should be exempt from quarantine rules, in a bid to ease the nation’s supply chain woes.

State and territory leaders are preparing to approve changes to isolation rules for workers in food and grocery supply jobs, which would mean asymptomatic close contacts will not need to isolate and can get back on the job.

Richard Forbes, the CEO of leading industry body, the Independent Food Distributors Association of Australia (IFDA), has issued a desperate plea to the government to find a solution urgently.

He warned that a lack of access to rapid antigen tests (RATs) among food distributors meant deliveries for a staggering 1500 hospitals and nursing homes now hung in the balance.

“There is so much focus on ensuring the large supermarkets continue to provide food for the community that the role of distributors who service hospitals, nursing homes, schools, childcare centres etc appears to be forgotten,” he explained.

“We welcome the move by the Prime Minister to convince states and territories to change the close contact isolation rules for those in the food supply chain, but this will amount to little if close contact workers cannot access RAT tests in order to do their work in warehouses or as truck drivers delivering food across state borders across the country to hospitals.”

Rapid antigen tests are sold out across the nation. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

Mr Forbes said he knew of one member who provided food to 50 hospitals and nursing homes – but who now has 175 staff out of a team of 350 in isolation and with limited access to RATs.

With that member providing 20 tonnes of food to those facilities three times a week, Mr Forbes said it was a disaster in the making.

“I want to make a plea to all states and territories to help find a solution to this issue,” he continued.

“We are not asking for free tests but that would be helpful, we are asking for priority access to tests so we can continue to provide food for some of the most vulnerable in society and the doctors and nurses that work in hospitals and nursing homes.”

He told Today it was a “really, really critical situation at the moment”.

“As we reach the peak over the next couple of weeks, we are hearing that people have RAT tests on order but it takes four or five days for delivery,” he said.

‘So what happens in the distribution centres that our members operate in the meantime, if we don’t have the workers and we don’t have the RAT tests, how do we get the food to hospitals and aged care centres?

Widespread supermarket shortages reveal the extent of the problem. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dylan Robinson

“These are literally the most vulnerable in our community. We can talk about the broader community, keeping food on supermarket shelves. But we also need to consider those in institutional facilities as well.”

He said it was “absolutely critical” that national cabinet and all states and territories agree to the changed close contact isolation rules.

“We need to get those workers right across the supply chain from farmers to suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors. We need to keep them at work because they are the ones providing food to the broad community but also into those institutional facilities,” he said.

“And of course we need access to RAT tests. If we can’t get those RAT tests, we can’t provide food to the most vulnerable.”

Industry leaders across the childcare and education, aviation, transport and energy sectors are among those in discussions with the government to consider how they too can be protected amid widespread Omicron-related staff shortages.