Workplaces struggle for staff as Covid cases surge

Challenging as it will be for some workers without sick leave who have to isolate with Covid-19 or who have a close contact with the virus, the Albanese government has made the right call in scrapping the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment from July 1. As Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt says, the Morrison government announced in September last year that the payment would cease at the end of the financial year. In the interests of budget repair, tough fiscal decisions are necessary. Until June 30, the government provided lump payments for those self-isolating for seven days due to Covid, with $450 for workers who had lost between eight and 20 hours of work and $750 if they lost 20 hours or more. Health Minister Mark Butler is correct when he says that at some point in this pandemic, now being reached, emergency measures must be lifted. “We’re going to have to start to move towards more normal programs that support the community, and people have been on notice about that for some time,’’ he said.

What a difference the responsibility of being in government makes to politicians’ attitudes. Last year, when Anthony Albanese was opposition leader, he demanded that the Morrison government extend JobKeeper beyond the March cut-off for struggling tourism operators. This time, the ACTU is upset with Labor. Australians know there is no money tree, as Josh Frydenberg used to say.

Friday’s meeting of federal and state health ministers, the first since the election, discussed the “third wave” of Covid-19. Case numbers and hospitalisations are increasing as Omicron BA4 and BA5 become the predominant strains of the virus in Australia. A further 200,000 people tested positive for coronavirus in the past week; and about 300 Australians a week are dying with the virus.

In a cold winter, concurrently, the weekly number of confirmed influenza cases has already exceeded the five-year average. But epidemiology experts believe the official numbers for both illnesses are fewer than 40 per cent of the true caseload. The rise of new Omicron subvariants BA4 and BA5 risks repeat infections for people who have already had Covid, with the added concern that BA5 has evolved to attack the lungs.

Confronted with a resurgent pandemic, Mr Butler has launched a review of the nation’s vaccine arrangements to ensure they are fit for purpose, now and for the rest of the year and into 2023. Rather than looking backwards over initial delays to the vaccine rollout, which would be pointless now that 95 per cent of eligible over-16-year-olds have had two doses, the review will look ahead. About six million Australians eligible for a third dose of a Covid vaccine have not had it. That is a problem because, Mr Butler says, two doses do not provide sufficient protection against the new variants. Only 64 per cent of aged-care residents eligible for their fourth jab have received it. And employers are warning that a combination of rising Covid and flu cases will force businesses to shut their doors, undermining productivity and further disrupting productivity due to workforce shortages.

Australians have not forgotten the tensions as political leaders and health officials read out daily totals of Covid cases and casualties. As in problematic flu seasons, when flu jabs do not protect against some virulent strains, the public and the medical profession are learning to live with Covid.

As mask and vaccine mandates are relaxed, hygiene and other precautions remain prudent. It is also vital, as Mr Butler says, that millions of oral antivirals that should prevent severe disease, hospitalisation and death among vulnerable patients be given to those who need them.

The eligibility criteria is being examined. And vigilance remains essential, with no room for complacency.