Covid deaths through roof amid aged-care warnings

More Australians have died from Covid over the past eight months of the pandemic under the Albanese government than in the first 18 months of the pandemic.

Australian Medical Association federal president Steve Robson says vaccination rates were languishing in some parts of the country.

More Australians have died from Covid over the past eight months of the pandemic under the Albanese government than in the first 18 months of the pandemic.

Figures from the Department of Health confirm there have been 9332 fatalities from the virus since the change of government on May 21 last year, compared to 8471 deaths under the former ­Coalition government.

Covid-19 deaths in aged care under Labor have also surpassed total deaths under the former government, with 2652 people dying in just eight months compared to 2415 under the Coalition.

The sustained increase in deaths among the vulnerable and wider community has sparked warnings from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and Australia’s peak medical lobby that the virus is still a “clear and present” danger.

Australian Medical Association federal president Steve Robson said vaccination rates were languishing in some parts of the country, as he called on the federal government to invest more funding to protect elderly communities in aged care.

“Covid might not be on the front page of newspapers, but it’s in our logjammed hospitals, it’s rife in the community, and it is now one of the leading causes of death in Australia,” Professor Robson told The Australian.

“We’re failing to reach the rates of vaccination on boosters that we should – only two states have even cracked the 50 per cent mark of those over 30 who are eligible for a fourth dose. Some states are as low as 28 per cent.”

RACGP vice-president Bruce Willett said the pandemic continued to place “extraordinary” pressure on the health system, and warned: “Mark my words – this pandemic is not over and Covid must be taken seriously.”

 

The warnings come ahead of an announcement from Health Minister Mark Butler on Wednesday that all Australian adults will be able to receive a fourth Covid dose from February 20 following new advice from the top immunisation advisory body.

Experts believe rising Covid-19 deaths in aged care and the wider community are partly due to a sharp rise in community transmission, after state and federal government’s moved away from lockdowns and towards an approach of living with the virus.

However, the increase in deaths comes after Labor heaped intense political pressure on the Coalition over its management of the pandemic while in opposition.

Amid rising deaths in aged care, opposition health and aged care spokeswoman Anne Ruston said the government had “failed” to protect the nation’s elderly.

It comes after The Australian revealed a coalition of aged-care providers and peak bodies called on Labor to overhaul the sector’s financial model or risk its collapse, with 70 per cent of aged-care homes operating at a loss.

The aged care sector is under sustained financial pressure after new modelling predicted it would need an extra $48bn by 2030 as a consequence of Australia’s ­rapidly ageing population.