Prime Minister
PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for your patience. It’s been a very lengthy but very productive discussion amongst the premiers, the chief ministers and I, and of course the Chief Medical Officer and General Frewen.
The first point I wish to make is, not only I but all the premiers and chief ministers understand that the challenges currently being faced across the country, particularly in relation to the testing queues, we understand is incredibly frustrating and is highly disruptive, particularly to people’s plans at this time of the year. And this is the product of Omicron and the different demands that are placed on the system because of Omicron, which leads to a very high number of cases. So we’re dealing with volume challenges, as we hadn’t seen in other part times during the course of the pandemic.
But with Omicron, as we know, and as the Chief Medical Officer has set out on a number of occasions now, this is a strain that is less severe but more contagious. And as a result, we are dealing with much higher levels of cases. But as we look through the impacts on the hospital system, which we discussed at length again today, we can still see that particularly in the areas of most acute and serious disease, in ICUs and and in ventilated patients, that they remain still at very low levels and well, well, well within the capacity of the hospital system.
Hospital system challenges relate more particularly to continue to gain access to workforce. That is the key constraint on our hospital system at present, and that relates to a set of rules that are around testing arrangements and furloughing arrangements and isolation arrangements and we discussed those at length today, as we looked at both the demand issues that relate to testing, as well as the supply issues that relate to testing, and seeing how we can address those.
There was also an understanding that we will need to continue to make changes, just as we did in the early phases of the, of the pandemic, look at the data, the lived experience and make sure we’re continually updating our rules to make sure they’re the best possible response. That has been key to the way we’ve handled this pandemic from the outset, using important principles like ensuring that our supports and measures are targeted, that they’re well-balanced, that they can be implemented using existing distribution mechanisms wherever possible, so the support we provide gets there and we're not inventing new systems that can easily fall apart when you try to put in place a new system, as we’ve seen on other occasions.
We understand that it’s applying significant stress to people all around the country, and the further actions we have decided to take today, in addition to those last week where we changed the definition of close contacts, in particular in the isolation requirements, it is our hope that and our confidence that this
should further alleviate the pressure which is in the system.
The reports that we had today, particularly from Joe Buffone who heads up the National Coordinating Mechanism. Joe is also the head of Emergency Management Australia. Joe has been working with the suppliers of the testing products right across the country and working with the industry and working with the states and territories.
We are looking at what is a relatively short term supply constraint, because we now have over 200 million tests between the Commonwealth and the states and territories which they’re on their way to Australia this month and next. The Commonwealth alone has 70 million. It was 50 million, we’ve been able to put in place orders now for an additional 20 million from the Commonwealth, and then on top of that the states and territories have been getting about their job in supporting the provision of testings within their states, and so those supplies will be on their way. But for the next few weeks, we do anticipate there will continue to be a lot of tension in the system when it comes to the supply and demand of those tests.
I also want to stress that this is the same challenge across the world. They’re experiencing this in the United Kingdom, they’re experiencing this all around the world. There is this rapid increase in the demand for these tests in an Omicron pandemic, which was different to what was occurring in the Delta pandemic, and as a result, the challenges that we’re facing here are the same and similar to so many other countries like Australia elsewhere in the world. So we’re not on our own in dealing with this. Other countries, most countries around the world are dealing with exactly the same problems. But what you do when you have those problems is what we’ve always done in the pandemic, you get together, you work the problem, you get to the solutions and you push through.
That’s why Australia is in a situation that we’re in after two years of this pandemic, whether it is our low rate of death for COVID, the strong economy, or indeed what continues to be, as General Frewen will outline, one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.
I want to stress at the start, as we confirmed today, that tests for close contacts and those who are symptomatic, they are free. They have always been free. They are the essential tests that are required for public health management. These are the tests that are recommended by the medical expert panel, the AHPPC. Those are the tests that they say must be done. And so if you are a close contact, as recently redefined, if you are symptomatic, then you need to go and get a test from the testing clinic. If you are not a close contact, if you are not symptomatic, you do not need to get a test. That is the advice that we have. And so we need to ensure that we are focusing those testing resources on the essential tests that are required, not the casual tests. I’ll come back to those issues in a moment.
We also agreed today to remove the requirement for a PCR test to confirm a positive rapid antigen test result. So if you’ve gone along, if you’re a close contact and you’ve had a rapid antigen test and it’s positive, you do not need to get a PCR test to confirm that. That will take pressure off PCR testing lines.
Next, there would be a seven day rolling test that is required for truck drivers. That will be removed.
Pre-arrival tests for treatment at hospital, now the good news is that at public hospitals this is largely not required, likely at all public hospitals. Some of those rules have been changed more recently, but we wanted to ensure that that was standardised. So if you’re going into a hospital as a patient for treatment, and we’re going to work with the private hospital sector that the same is happening there, that you will not be required to get a COVID test in order to enter the hospital to receive treatment. You will likely be given one when you’re there, but you don't need to go and line up in these queues because you’re going to get hospital treatment. And we discourage that requirement for people to have tests before receiving even private treatment, even in a GP surgery where a person is not symptomatic and is not a close contact.
No requirement for a second test post-arrival for those who are returning or arriving from overseas. They will have, as we said last week, a rapid antigen test on arrival. If that is negative, then they will not be required to have a further test. Remembering that 99 per cent of those who are turning up at our airports are double vaccinated. And we are not seeing large number of cases come through international arrivals.
Cases are community transmission. That’s where the greatest risks are, and so there will no longer be that requirement for a second test, other than in Queensland, and where Queensland say they will still insist on that until we get to a position of 90 per cent double vaccinated in that state, and that will be done by the Queensland Government.
All states are moving away from requiring a rapid antigen test for interstate travel. Now, this doesn't apply to WA. WA were not in attendance at the meeting today. They are in a very different situation to the rest of the country. The rest of the country now have case numbers that are on the trajectory of rapid escalation, just like we’ve seen in New South Wales and Victoria, and they’re reporting the same limited impacts on their ICUs and on their ventilator requirements in those jurisdictions. Western Australia will continue, while they weren’t there today, to operate as they have been, and we would envisage that when they open their border and they are confronted with these same issues, that they will move into the same system that is operating elsewhere in the country.
Queensland and Tasmania will make an announcement when they finally dispense with that RAT test requirement, that rapid antigen test requirement. That will be done in Queensland’s case when they hit 90 per cent double dose vaccination. And Tasmania will be making an announcement on that in the course of the next week or so.
But I would say, as Victoria and New South Wales confirmed today, that you can’t go along to the state testing centre for the purposes of interstate travel tests. Those lines are for people who require essential tests. So if it’s not an essential test, you’re not a close contact, you’re not symptomatic, you shouldn't be in those lines. In most cases, people in that situation don't require a test at all and they should go to the beach, go with their family or be at work or wherever, whatever their normal course of business is. So all states are moving away from that RAT test requirement for travel.
The Commonwealth will be providing 10 million rapid antigen tests to the states and territories. That was agreed yesterday at the Expenditure Review Committee of Cabinet. They will predominantly be a point of care tests and that will enable states and territories to do two things. There will also be self-tests as well, but they will be predominately point of care tests. That means they will be able to replace the use, substitute the use of self-tests with point of care tests in their health system, because point of care tests can obviously be administered by health workers. And that means the self-tests that are being used in the health care system can be transferred to being available at state testing centres, which list the supply of those self-test rapid antigen tests.
The second thing is that as we’re moving away from PCR tests and we’re getting further advice from that, from the Chief Medical Officer next week these point of care tests can also be administered at testing sites themselves. So you’ll will find yourself in the course of the next couple of weeks, they will be transitioning where you’ll be either be getting a rapid antigen test provided at that site and you’ll get your result there and then, within 15 minutes. You won't have to wait for the test results to come back from the lab. This will take the pressure off the pathology labs which are out there, which will speed up the test results for PCRs that are needed for those who are essential to get PCRs. So we’re looking to, you know, move those queues quicker, we’re moving to try and get results back quicker, and for those having their rapid engine tests at a testing centre, it means they will be, if they’ve got a negative test from that, they can go home and get on with their life.
Universal free access to tests was not agreed by any of the states and territories today, or the Commonwealth. I’ll make that very clear. Universal free access was not considered the right policy response by all of the states and territories in attendance today, and the Commonwealth. What was agreed, though, was providing, as I flagged two weeks ago, a model to provide concessional access for tests over a three month period, and they will be made available through the pharmacy network. So I’ve spoken to the President of the Pharmacy Guild and they are in agreement to provide that service and there will be a maximum of 10 tests that will be provided on a concessional basis over those three months.
If you are symptomatic or a close contact and you're a concession card holder, and I'll go through the cards in a second, do not go to the pharmacy to get your test, go to the testing centre. We don't want people who are symptomatic or who are close contacts and may be carrying the virus going into pharmacies. That raises further health risks for people who are in pharmacies. You get a free test at the testing centre, so I want to be clear about this. The concessional free tests are being provided to the following groups; those who have a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, a Health Care Card, a Low Income Card, a Pension Concession Card, a DVA Gold Card or a DVA White Card. Now there's over 6.6 million Australians who fall into those categories. They will be able to get up to 10 tests over the course of three months, no more than five per month. And they should only be getting those tests there if they are not symptomatic and they are not close contact. If you are symptomatic and a close contact, you can go to the testing centre as many times as you need to. All of those tests are free, and for those groups, they will also be free for up to 10 tests over three months, and you will be able to do that by going to the pharmacy. We hope to have that in place over the next fortnight. In a fortnight from now. It may be able to be done more quickly than that, and we are working with the Pharmacy Guild to put that in place as soon as we can, and we will get an update on that when we meet again next week.
The cost for those tests being provide concessionally will be met 50/50 by the states and territories and the Commonwealth. I want to thank the premiers, particularly the Queensland Premier. We, when we discussed this today, we had put forward a proposal which saw us paying a one off payment, which would have been $100, 50/50 with the states and territories. The reason that had been contemplated is that meant that others who were getting that payment would be able to buy the rapid antigen tests from supermarkets where there is more that there is additional supply, obviously, than the pharmacies. By constraining it to doing it by test, that can only be done through the pharmacy network because that's where we have the systems in place to be able to provide those tests and provide the rebates back to the pharmacies directly using the other payment systems we already have in place. So we hope to be able to do that within the next fortnight, and I do hope that we're able to do it even sooner than that and we will provide an update that as soon as we can.
There are other measures which I can announce, that we will be using the Biosecurity Act through the Health Minister to include rapid antigen tests as, in the price gouging provisions under the regulations that are put out by the Health Minister, which means that if you are selling a rapid antigen test for more than 120 per cent of, so a 20 per cent mark-up, on what you've paid for it to supply it, then you will be in breach of that regulation and that carries a penalty of $66,000 and up to five years in jail. These are the same price gouging provisions that we put in place earlier in the pandemic for things like hoarding and supplying at price gouging rates on personal protection equipment and things of that nature. So we are just adding to that list, rapid antigen tests, to ensure that is the case. We will also be including rapid antigen tests in the list of those products that are covered by those export controls that we put in place to stop the export, private export, of these tests to other countries. We want the tests that we have here in Australia to remain here in Australia. They are not to be bought up and and put on eBay and sold at extortionate prices and sent overseas. So we're putting that in place. The ACCC, Rod Sims attended the meeting today and Rod outlined the actions they're taking. He has written to all of the suppliers and set these things out very, very clearly.
We were also able to agree with the industry that we'll have some anti-hoarding provisions put in place on a voluntary basis by the retail sector, where you can buy only one box at a time. Now those boxes come in either boxes of two or five and you can buy one. That's what you can do and that will be administered and monitored by the retail industry themselves. And in fact, many of them are already doing that right now. That includes the supermarkets where they're already got those rules in place.
Just finally, and I know it's been a long run through of the activities today, but as you can see, it has been a very constructive discussion and set of agreements. New rules for aged care. And I'll allow the Chief Medical Officer to take you through those, which means we'll be able to get aged care workers back to work more quickly and also for health care workers by changing the isolation arrangements and the provisions we have in place for them to be working in those settings, will be over the next week, working on how we can extend and those arrangements to what we would define as critical workforces. That is especially the case in things like distribution centres in the transport industry and effectively treating them the same way as we would a health care worker and an aged care worker because of the high rates that we're seeing in the furloughing take place there that can put at risk potentially down the track supplies. And we want to make sure that those workforces are maintained and that work will come back next week.
I'll be tasking the Attorney-General and they'll be joined by the relevant minister from each jurisdiction to come back to us next week with advice and recommendations on how we can be clear about the obligations of employers in relation to their occupational health and safety obligations. Employers are concerned that under those OH&S rules, that they have to require their staff to be tested, in order to meet those obligations. We will be working to ensure that that obligation will not be required. So if businesses are wanting to test their staff for other reasons, well, that, it's a matter for them. But supplies are short and particularly in the next few weeks, and we want to ensure that they're going to where they are essentially required, which is once again close contacts and people who are symptomatic. So we'll be working together with them to clarify those arrangements and to ensure that particularly small businesses and medium sized businesses are not imposed with the burden of having to pay for tests simply to comply with the regulation that would not be considered necessary. But we'll be taking the health advice on that and we'll be taking the advice from the attorneys and relevant ministers around the country.
The last issue is in relation to schools, and the objective here is very clear and we are all very shared in our view that schools go back and stay back. On day one of term one. And over the next fortnight, we have tasked the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and his colleagues in each of the jurisdictions to come back to us next week with a set of final recommendations at the latest in a fortnight, which will set out a national framework for the return of school. And that will include everything from the testing arrangements that have been put in place, any furloughing issues that need to arise, matters relating to workplace health and safety, matters relating to rates of vaccination and a series of other issues which will be defined over the course of the next week by the Secretaries to ensure that we have a clear common approach as best as we are able to achieve across all the states and territories. But what we want to achieve is that those schools and the kids go back and stay back, and we don't have schools opening and closing, opening and closing and the disruption that that will cause. So that will be worked through. Many of the states and territories have already worked through plans at a fairly extensive level. So step one is just to put those on the table and bring them together and ensure we can bring those into a consistent national approach. And with that, I'll pass it on to the CMO. Professor Kelly.
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Thanks PM. So, this is a day where we've had large numbers of cases again, as we've seen in the last couple of weeks, 64,000 cases today and 18 deaths across all states in the Commonwealth. So although WA has their border essentially closed, they are seeing cases from interstate and from overseas, and all other states and territories have cases now. But it's worthwhile, this is what I've shared with the first ministers in National Cabinet today, is to have a perspective about what's happened in the last two weeks. We hear these numbers every day and it can become overwhelming to an extent. In the two weeks between the 20th of December through to the 3rd of January, the number of active cases did rise to a large extent, from 30,000 to 218,000. But during that time, the hospitalisation rate also, the hospitalisation numbers also increased from 824 to 2,158. Most of those in New South Wales. Importantly, though, the proportion of of the hospitalisation hospitalised cases compared with the active cases decreased down to almost a third of what it was previously, from 2.7 per cent to 1 per cent hospitalisation rate. In terms of ICU, that did increase, but not as much as in hospitalisation. Hospitalised cases as we heard during National Cabinet, about 50 per cent of those are people coming into hospital being tested and found to have COVID, they're not there because of COVID, they're there with COVID. In intensive care, it went from 114 to 171. But again, the proportion of hospitalised cases decreased from 13.8 per cent to 7.9 per cent during that period. And importantly, the most severe cases, those on ventilation also remained steady. It was 55 on the 20th of December. It was 54 cases nationally on the 3rd of January, which dropped from 6.7 per cent to 2.5 per cent. So I think that gives a perspective of what we're seeing. We're seeing a lot of cases. They're almost, they are overwhelmingly mild or even asymptomatic, and the proportion that are seriously sick is much less than we've seen in previous waves. This confirms what we've seen internationally and really that it's quite clear now that there is, whilst Omicron is more transmissible, it is much less severe than previous types of the virus, both within the virus itself, but also the continued protection against severe illness from vaccination.
The PM mentioned a document that we have finalised in through AHPPC, and I thank my colleagues, there for this work. It's again part of the living with COVID. It's about furloughing specifically and particularly in aged care, where these are the highest risk, as we've known right from the beginning, in terms of residents of aged care. And so we had that dual responsibility of protecting oneself self, but also protecting those most, most at risk. And so essentially, this is a risk based approach which is different from what we had previously of a no tolerance approach to risk and really taking into account the issue of losing a workforce as we're seeing in aged care, as we're seeing more broadly in health care and in other sectors. And so this will become the template for us to use into the future, essentially looking at what is the risk as we've seen it and then taking that risk based approach this this lower, lower section here, which is actually taking that risk into account and having people at work, we need people at work to look after our aged care residents, even if they are at a low risk of of transmitting COVID. And so there are a range of issues there we will do to keep people at work to test regularly, if necessary, to use a more fulsome PPE and so forth to allow that to happen. And finally, I think the other thing the PM has mentioned is that we've been tasked to look again at this other transition we're having in terms of testing from PCR to rapid antigen tests. And that's work that we will undertake at AHPPC in the coming week.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, Paul. Two other things I should have mentioned. There was a lot of things we went through today. That is in the provision of rapid antigen tests. Both the states and the Commonwealth from time to time may need to provide additional tests directly, in particular circumstances that can occur potentially in outbreaks, remote indigenous communities, situations that arise from time to time, particular cohorts or groups. And so we've left open the flexibility to do that. That would be done direct. That would just be done through a direct provision model, either by the Commonwealth or the states and territories to deal with a particular challenge that might present itself. So that was one. There was also the issue Paul reminded me in what he referred to about the definition of who's in hospital and who's not. Well, what we know that not everybody who is going to hospital and is identified as being in there with COVID went there because of COVID. That is presented after they've arrived, they've broken an arm or some other procedure they've been there for. We agreed that it is important to understand that for the purposes of public explanation, but the administrative process of trying to break that down would put an unreasonable burden on that hospital system to be trying to break that down. So we will be putting in place, a qualitative way of getting a better understanding of what's happening with those hospital admissions, as well as some of the underlying health conditions that people have who have been put into hospital. Now, why is that important? We are seeing those who are being hospitalised are obviously being those who are more vulnerable. That's true and and have underlying health conditions. But still, the number one reason is you're not vaccinated. If you're not vaccinated, you are more likely to end up with a serious illness and end up in hospital. So if you don't want to end up in hospital from COVID, particularly seeing the number of cases around, please if you haven't already got vaccinated, get vaccinated and get that booster shot. A record day yesterday, over 170,000. On that note, I'll pass to General Frewen.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL JJ FREWEN, COORDINATOR GENERAL OF OPERATION COVID SHIELD: Thanks, PM. Good afternoon, everyone. More than 43 million doses of vaccine have been administered across the length and breadth of Australia now. We yesterday had a very strong day after a bit of an easing off over that Christmas New Year holiday period. We had 212,000 doses of vaccines administered yesterday and as the PM said, within that was a hundred and seventy six thousand doses that were booster shots. Now yesterday, an additional four million Australians became eligible for booster shots, with the reduction from a five month to a four month duration from second dose. That means that across the course of this month, a little more than eight million Australians will be eligible. Yesterday, 44,000 additional Australians became eligible. We administered 176,000 booster doses yesterday, so we are exceeding the daily new entrants and we will be closing the gap on all of those folks who are eligible as they come forward. More than 2.74 million Australians have now had their booster shots.
In terms of supply, as I've said before, supply of vaccines is not the issue now. There are more than enough mRNA vaccines in Australia to meet both primary dose requirements and booster dose requirements. There are three million doses of mRNA sitting on shelves around GPs, pharmacists and state hubs right now. Across this week and next week, another 6.5 million doses of mRNA will be delivered. That is almost nine and a half million doses that will be sitting out there with distributors getting ready to put into people's arms. We have another 10 million doses of mRNA already sitting in warehouses in Australia, so the vaccines are here. What we are working hard on now is making sure the distribution best services where the demand is. We have met all orders across recent weeks from GPs, pharmacists and other state clinics. But of course, demand in some areas will exceed what has been ordered and that's where we are working to move doses around to make sure that where the people are at a particular point in time is where the vaccines are.
In parallel, we are also well prepared for the commencement of vaccinations for the 5 to 11 year olds. The programme for the 2.3 million kids in that category will commence from the 10th of January. Again, the very particular supply for that cohort is in country, has been tested and is being distributed as we speak, and there will be adequate paediatric doses to meet the first dose requirement, at least for all kids, prior to the commencement of school, either within January or in the early weeks of February. So as the PM has said, anyone who hasn't yet come forward for either their primary dose or for their boosters, I do encourage you to please book in as soon as you can. The bookings for paediatric doses for the 5 to 11 year olds have been open for more than a month now. There has been a very strong uptake in bookings. If you are finding difficulty getting a booking now with your primary health provider for your 5 to 11 year old kids, there are more than 10,000 points of vaccination around the country now. I do encourage you to try a pharmacist or try a state and territory clinic as an alternative. When it comes to booster shots, there are bookings available in nearly every state around the country right now for bookings within the next few days for boosters. So again, get out there, get those boosters done. I do want to thank everybody who's been involved, particularly in the distribution and administration of vaccines over the last couple of weeks. There has been an enormous amount of good work done. January is a very big month, with additional people becoming eligible for boosters, with the 5 to 11 year olds coming in and with the ongoing work that we are doing. We're working closely with the states and territories. We're starting to see a ramp up again in many of the state and territory hubs as well, and we think there will be really good capacity to get all of those people who need their shots down across the course of the month. And for anyone involved in distribution or administration, if you do have any concerns with the availability of vaccines, again I reiterate, please contact us at the Vaccine Operation Centre and we will get those issues resolved as quickly as we can.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you General Frewen. So a busy day at National Cabinet. There will be many, many more in the weeks ahead. So questions.
JOURNALIST: Sharon Lewin from the Doherty Institute said last night that based on current rates of infection, we're looking at about 200,000 infections per day by the end of the month, which is a big number. But I just wondered what statistical evidence have you got about the extent to which the measures you've taken today reduce pressures on the on the various testing hubs, which will allow people to get access, quick access, without really long queues to testing? And also, while you've taken off the obligation for employers, there will be a lot of people who still want to be able to get access to tests, for example, if they're going to see their elderly parents, those sorts of things. What commitment can you give that people will be able to get access in a commercial environment, if not free, because most of the purchases you're talking about will be going through the state systems?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, on the latter point, first, I mean, supply will continue to be constrained in the pharmacies and supermarkets over the next couple of weeks. That's what they've told us. But then they are anticipating that their supplies, further supplies will be coming through and that will increase their availability right across those, those areas. But as you rightly note, they are tests being provided not for essential purposes as defined by the medical experts, but for convenience purposes, casual purposes and other peace of mind purposes that they may be seeking for exactly, you know, the quite genuine reasons you set out. But those supplies will be constrained for the next few weeks. And so people then should exercise caution when they are coming in contact with vulnerable people for exactly that reason. But if you're not symptomatic and you're not a close contact, then there isn't a requirement for you to go and have that test. I'll ask the Chief Medical Officer to speak about the other issues in relation to what we're doing today and what we're seeking to achieve. But it stands to reason together with the premiers and chief ministers today that by removing unnecessary sources of demand, i.e. truck drivers having to have the rolling tests, having to have PCR tests to confirm a RAT test, that obviously will reduce the demand. The requirement for international visitors or people returning from overseas, having to have a second test, two tests rather than just having one, that is obviously going to reduce the demand. Putting in place an extra 10 million tests from the Commonwealth directly provided to the states and territories for point of care rapid antigen testing that will obviously assist them in substituting tests from PCR to rapid antigen and also to substitute in the health system to get more self-care tests into the line, so when people go as is occurring, probably most successfully at the moment in Tasmania, where people can go to those testing centres and get a rapid antigen test, ultimately that's where we'd like to be after a few weeks where people would go to those testing centres, just be handed their box and then they will return to their own home when they do their tests. And we're working on a system through our GPs and other processes for people to report whether they've got a positive test. The reason we want people to report is not to count numbers. It's not about counting case numbers. It's about connecting people to care. And that's why we'll be working, and with the primary health network to ensure that where people have contacted their GP and said I've got COVID, then that is a very sensible thing to do so their GP can also be in contact with them. But equally, it's very helpful when we assemble those to help us in understanding potential impacts for intensive care and other demands. But Paul, anything you want to add?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Just a couple of things. So firstly, on statistics as to whether this will work, we know that there are, for example, in the week leading up to Christmas, one of the premiers was saying 45 per cent of their tests, their PCR tests were done for interstate travel. That's stopped. There are a lot of truck drivers there, not having one one a week, that stops, and there are a lot of people arriving from international destinations now that it's also stopped. So so the numbers are there. I think we can we can work through that. In terms of what might happen in the future, there's no doubt that there will be more cases and the case numbers will rise. As the PM has said the cases are not the main game at the moment. It is that hospitalisation issue, that ICU issue, that ventilation issue that I mentioned before, they're small proportions, but with a big number, we need to be prepared for that. We do know that we, there are cases in the community that are not getting tested at the moment. And so much of what we talked about today was to make sure that that can be prioritised for those people that absolutely need it and they can get the care they need, where they need it, when they need it.
PRIME MINISTER: So think of it this way. I mean, what we're trying to achieve is Omicron is pushing that up. It's pushing the curve up for demand for tests and for treatment and all of these things. And everything we're doing is trying to push that down. Now the ultimate size and pressure of Omicron, nobody knows. We're seeking to understand it as best we can, but that is constantly putting on upward pressure. And so by taking out elements of the demand and by better channelling the sources of supply that we have, then we can best, I think, address that equation.
JOURNALIST: Just on the peace of mind test, as you described them, what do you say to carers or people that might live with somebody who is vulnerable that might want to have several tests a week, maybe even every day, and would therefore have to spend hundreds of dollars every month just to make sure they're not bringing something home?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, again, what we've agreed today is that carers, actually many of them, most of them in fact, fit into these definitions that we've put on the concession card holders. And so that provides those immediate tests. I mean, if we're finding that that is a particularly big issue, then we can address that through the NDIA. And this is where I say we will continue. I mean, it's not a set and forget approach. But equally, we need to be careful that we're not undertaking lots of unnecessary testing. I mean, the sorts of circumstances you've outlined can be very genuine and be very real. And so we'd work closely with the sector where that is necessary in the same way we are already doing in aged care settings with the workers that are there. We have arrangements already with care workers in the disability sector, but I'll be listening carefully to the NDIA about those where someone is required to have a test that is connected with their condition, who was on the NDIS, well they can already access those tests free. But the extent to which that needs to be provided through their care model as well, well that's something we'd be very open to looking at.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you said that close contacts will no longer require a PCR test to confirm their positive rapid antigen test. When will PCR testing be required or are we going to do away with that altogether? And secondly, could you please explain how exactly the subsidy for low income earners, those peace of mind tests will work? Will they be paid for, will the money be paid to pharmacies or will that money go to the people?
PRIME MINISTER: The money goes to the pharmacy. So if you're in any of those groups that I outlined, you would go along to the chemist. They will give you one and then they will take your details. They will obviously get your concession card details, and many of them will already be in the system, and there will be a rebate system that works back to the pharmacy. So no one has to get paid an amount, go along and pay for them. That's not how it works. It will be done through similar ways with sort of high level paracetamol and things like that, which is a practice that is already in place. That obviously constrains us back to the number of suppliers because supermarkets can't do that system. And I just want to stress again, that if you are symptomatic or a close contact, do not go to the pharmacy, go to the testing centre. That's where we need you to go. And there is no limit on the number of tests that you can have for free if you're symptomatic or you're a close contact.
JOURNALIST: Why weren't more supplies of rapid antigen tests secured earlier, given the department had modelled scenarios in which a more contagious strain of the virus would place pressure on testing clinics?
PRIME MINISTER: Well the Australian Government did secure the testing supplies we needed for rapid antigen testing to deal with the Commonwealth responsibilities. In aged care, we were in the market from August, and we already had four million and we're already dispensing those through the aged care network and already secured 10 million as part of that group. And now we've added a further 50 million on top of that, and another 20 million on top of that. So the Commonwealth, in terms of our responsibilities for rapid antigen testing that were agreed in early November, we had fulfilled.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: It's up to the states and territories to supply testing consumables and reagents and things of that nature in their jurisdictions for general use. That's the same for PCRs. So exactly what was being done for PCRs would apply to rapid antigen tests. And so the suggestion that somehow this responsibility shifted from the states to the Commonwealth is false. It was always a state responsibility. And that's why I'm pleased that the states are working together as well, working with the Commonwealth. And that's why the Commonwealth today is happy to support the states through our own procurements and providing 10 million point of care rapid antigen tests to the states and territories.
JOURNALIST: Sorry, just on, overnight Boris Johnson has said that he believes that, sorry, overnight Boris Johnson has said he believes the UK can ride the wave of this Omicron variant. Given the projections of cases in the hundreds of thousands, do you believe that Australia is in a position to do the same thing? There's also been projections that cases are likely to spike in the next three weeks before falling rapidly, I think Dominic Perrottet said the same thing today, is that a projection that you believe is going to happen as well?
PRIME MINISTER: We have no choice but to ride the wave. What's the alternative? What we must do is press on. And the UK is in a different situation to Australia, and Australia is better placed than almost any other country in the world economically. Our levels of vaccination ensures that we hit this moment with Omicron with a very highly vaccinated population. I'm very pleased to see that the levels now for Indigenous vaccinations are up over 70 per cent, I think it is now. 80 per cent first dose and over 70 per cent double dose, which is tremendous news. And so Australia, with its high vaccination rates, is in an even stronger position than the United Kingdom is. And we're in the top 10 most vaccinated OECD countries in the world, both on first dose and on second dose. So we are in a good position to push through or ride the wave or whichever way people might want to describe it. And that's why we just have to keep carefully managing these issues as they present. The pandemic doesn't come with a roadmap, it throws up all sorts of challenges and complete changes. And Omicron was a very big game changer. Everything that you used to do to control Delta is not how you manage Omicron. It has the advantage of being less severe, but it has the disadvantage of having very high levels of transmission, which gives you a big volume problem, which is why we're having to change the testing arrangements, the isolation arrangements, because you don't just end up dealing with a health challenge, but you've still got the economic challenge of taking people out of the workforce. And people are doing incredibly important jobs, which means there's food on the table. And so those things combined, I am confident we will continue to manage them as we have over the last two years and meet the challenges as they come and principally by doing what we did today. Now there is a lot of knockers out there of National Cabinet, and I get that. The Federation isn't the most efficient of systems, but you know, it's a lot more efficient than a lot of the alternatives. And today, leaders sat down and just constructively worked through these issues. People brought things to the table. Where they needed to be changed they were. And we're going to keep doing that. We're meeting again next week and the week after that.
JOURNALIST: Just on the projections. Do you believe it's likely to spike in the next three weeks before falling off, is that the latest?
PRIME MINISTER: Paul's better placed to, he's the epidemiologist. Not the epidemiologist, the [inaudible].
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Sub-speciality of Dermatology. So, next life, maybe. So as I said, we expect to have more cases. How long that will last for? That's a crystal ball moment, I can't absolutely say. We have seen internationally a doubling rate of about every two to three days, and so that will give a sense of where this is going. I suspect that not all states are in the same situation. New South Wales will be first to peak, others will follow. But everyone is going to be in for this exact same issue over the coming weeks, including Western Australia when they open their border a month from today.
JOURNALIST: On those 200,000 cases, when the modelling first came out two weeks ago it was still Omicron and you said that it's very extreme, it's a very unlikely extreme case scenario. It assumes nobody does anything, nobody gets boosters, there's no changes, no one exercises common sense. We've hit 64,000 today, and that's the official numbers, let alone rapid tests. What's changed? Have we not acted fast enough or is people not done enough to curtail those numbers? You didn't seem as surprised today when Laura mentioned the 200,000 figure by the end of the month, as you did two weeks ago.
PRIME MINISTER: Omicron is full of its own surprises. I mean, the modelling process is not infallible, and all of the riders that I put on that were provided to me by the Chief Medical Officer and the modellers themselves. That was an entirely accurate summary of the modelling and the things that it didn't take into account. But, you know, COVID writes its own rules. It writes its own story. We don't get to write that story as to what it does. We only get to write our responses. And no I wouldn't say it was because of any fault of the public's response or how people have behaved. This is a highly contagious strain of the virus. Thankfully, it is 75 per cent less severe, and Australia has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. And as a result, we in a position to deal with it better than most. So we will continue to get surprises and when we get them, we'll just deal with them. Paul, did you want to add anything?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: No, I think that there is a trajectory to these waves. We've seen many waves around the world, including here in Australia, over the last two years, almost exactly two years now since the first cases arrived in Australia. And we've put in place various ways of dealing with that. Testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine, we had a lot of discussion around modifying that today. Public health and social measures we talked about last week and the meeting before that. Vaccination, we've had and that's boosters will be a very important part of the response to this particular wave.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. No, I'm sorry, you've had one.
JOURNALIST: Just on another COVID related issue. Do you personally support the decision for Novak Djokovic to play at the Australian Open?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, my view is that any individual seeking to enter Australia must comply with our border requirements. Now Novak Djokovic, when he arrives in Australia, I'm not quite sure when he's going to turn up, but I don't think it's too far away, he has to, if he's not vaccinated, he must provide acceptable proof that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons to be able to access the same travel arrangements as fully vaccinated travellers. So we await his presentation and what evidence he provides to support that. If that evidence is insufficient, then he won't be treated any different to anyone else and he'll be on the next plane home. So there should be no special rules for Novak Djokovic at all. None whatsoever. And so if medical exemptions have been provided by medical professionals and that's been furnished to him as a proviso for him to get on that plane, well, that will have to stack up when he arrives in Australia. But he'll be treated no different to anyone else, and my view is he should be treated no different to anyone else. There are other cases, there are quite a number over the last couple of years where people have had these exemptions and have suitable proof to support their claim in those circumstances. So the circumstance is not unique. The issue is whether he has sufficient evidence to support that he would qualify for that exemption.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, we've seen in Tasmania today 50 staff at the Royal Hobart Hospital have actually caught COVID themselves. You said you discussed pressures on the health system and the workforce that's obviously under a lot of pressure. What's actually being done? And also, if I may, how many rapid tests have you personally paid for?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I'll have to check with Jen because she's the one that goes and gets them for those situations. I mean, there are tests that the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet have available, and they make them available. They make them available to Department staff. I'm an employee in this building, like everybody else. And so I access them in the same way that others might in those circumstances. But when they've been used for private use, then Jen has popped around to the chemist or wherever she's gone. I think recently she went to one here in Canberra for that reason and was able to eventually find one, just like everyone else driving around looking to find one. But where they are provided by the Department, well, they're provided by the Department and I'd be no different to any other minister or anyone in those circumstances. Just remind me of…
JOURNALIST: … The workforce issues, and what’s actually being done?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well, I've already outlined quite a number of measures today, and the most significant issue is how we're managing the isolation, testing and ability to work arrangements in these places. And it's the same for aged care as it is for working in hospitals. When people are working in hospitals, and particularly if they're looking after COVID patients themselves, obviously we can have different conditions on them being able to work if they are a close contact than if they're serving coffee or working in this building, for example, or in your job, for that matter. And so in those arrangements, we have specialised rules, which the Chief Medical Officer was just outlining for aged care workers, which enables them to come back to work sooner. And we have regular testing arrangements that are in place for these workers, which isn't applied in other workplaces and that's done by the governments. Those tests, it's another example of where tests are being provided free. I note that the tests when we come to finalising the National Framework around education, we’ll be providing those free in those circumstances as well. So free tests being provided where they needed to be provided. It was agreed that universally, no, but where they're needed, yes, they will be. So they're the arrangements that are particularly needed to manage when people can safely come back to work, so we don't get the furloughing of our workforce, which depletes the important care that is needed in those places. Because they are providing important care to people, and if they're not there, then the health outcome more broadly is worse. But Paul, did you want to add?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: I think that in Tasmania, as of the 3rd of January, there were 1,686 people with COVID in the community. Some of those will be health workers, some of those who will be aged care workers. Interestingly, there were zero cases in the hospital, hospitalised in Tasmania on that day. So these are issues that we have to have to deal with in a living with COVID situation. There will be staff of of various industries, but particularly and specifically health care and aged care, who will get COVID. And we'll have to work out ways, where it's safe to do so, that they can come back to work to do the important things that the PM's outlined.
JOURNALIST: With the shift to rapid antigen tests as the default test, are we developing a system to record the results like they have in the UK? And how will that work? And the second thing is Coles has just, in every state and territory except WA, imposing limits on the meat you can buy, two packets of chops, two packets of mince. What's your reaction to that? Are you surprised by that and concerned?
PRIME MINISTER: We've been, the Treasurer in particular, has been working with Coles and Woolies and the other suppliers, and these are one of the issues which we're monitoring very closely. I think that's a a precautionary step that they've taken and a wise one. I wouldn't read too much into it. And that's why it's just important that we're working with their distribution centres and treating their workers the same we would health care workers and those in aged care, and that's exactly what we're seeking to have in place. I mean, the Treasurer last night was speaking to the Chief Executive of Coles and has spoken directly to the head of Woolworths as well at Metcash. We've been working with them as well to work through those issues as you would expect us to do, as we have done now on multiple occasions through many waves of this virus. Whether it was the big lockdown the first time around in Victoria or the second one in New South Wales and Victoria. We were presented with the same challenges then and we got through then. That's what the National Coordinating Mechanism does. It works with the supply chains and the large corporates. This is why the transport industry is very important as well. I mean, the reason we're not mailing rapid antigen tests out to everybody, and this was suggested at today's meeting, that was one suggestion made. And the reason we didn't do that was because we know there is already enough stress on the transport distribution network. General Frewen knows that better than anyone. We want them to focus on delivering vaccines to vaccination hubs. And so we don't want to put additional stress on that for what are non-essential tests. And that's why we didn't go down that path. I mean, the United Kingdom is finding that is a very difficult system to run, and their supplies are exhausted within an hour of being posted. So there's no magic solution there. There are no magic solutions, full stop. And so this virus will continue to challenge us. And it's important that we all remain calm. We understand people are frustrated by it. We're all frustrated by it. I'm frustrated by it. But whether I'm frustrated or not is not the point. The point is that we have to just keep working through the problems. There's plenty of armchair critics. There's plenty of those who say this should have been done or that should have been done. You hear from those people all the time. But what's important is you just keep working the problem and dealing with the challenges that are presented. And as far as possible, being able to get other measures in place ahead of time.
JOURNALIST: On reporting on the RATs results, how that works?
PRIME MINISTER: [Inaudible] in place and at the moment, in the first instance, that is done through the GPs. And that's already happening now.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible] do a rapid antigen test and you test positive, you have to contact your GP, is that how it works?
PRIME MINISTER: I would strongly encourage, people who have COVID should contact their GP. They should let them know because that is the principal point of care under the primary health network, and they are in a position to provide further advice and telehealth is put in place to support that. And the Acting Secretary of the Department of Health today went through in some detail about how that is being used to support people who are managing their COVID at home. And so that is always your first point of contact when it comes to managing your illness if you're not in hospital. And your GP will be able to assist you through telehealth or if you need to go and get further treatment in a hospital. But as we're seeing, there are very low incidences, particularly in Omicron, which is what we're seeing say in a state like Tasmania, which are now starting to see cases, but obviously the majority of their cases are Omicron, which are far less severe. Hence, we're not seeing the same rates of hospitalisation, which gives us a bit more confidence about their workers being able to return sooner rather than later. But for when we get to the point where the rapid antigen testing is being more thoroughly used at a distribution centre level, at a testing clinic level, then we spoke of that today and I see no issue with us having a system up in place ready for that to be there when it is in full swing.
JOURNALIST: Can I just, on hospitals, we've seen strain across mainly the eastern seaboard capital cities, how much more pressure can they take before they just buckle and we can't get to serious COVID cases in Sydney or Melbourne?
PROFESSOR PAUL KELLY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Well, firstly, of course, hospitals are busy all the time doing all sorts of work and a real shout out today to all health care workers. This is a difficult time for them. Not so much because of the COVID cases they're seeing, outside of New South Wales and Victoria there aren't actually all that many people in hospital, very few people in ICU and almost nobody under ventilation. So so it is an issue for health care workers, I'm not denying that, but we have plenty of spare capacity. We have surge plans in place, we've had them since the beginning of the pandemic and they were reinforced recently with a lot of work done through all departments, including the Department of Health here in Canberra, to be prepared for exactly this sort of scenario. And I'll stress again, we're seeing very large numbers of cases, but very, very few people with severe illness. This is the nature of Omicron.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you disappointed that neither the Premier of Western Australia or the Acting Premier made themselves available for this meeting today? The Acting Premier held a press conference halfway through the National Cabinet meeting.
PRIME MINISTER: They're the rules of National Cabinet. And the rules of National Cabinet is unless it's a long term Acting Premiership role like we had with Minister Merlino in Victoria when Premier Andrews was out of action for quite some period of time, then the Acting Premier participated in National Cabinet. The Director General of the Premier and Cabinet Department were in attendance today, but they obviously can't make commitments on behalf of the Government. The reason we do that is, you know, we're not going to have people going in and out of National Cabinet. One of the very helpful things about National Cabinet is the people who sit around that table, we've been through a lot together. We understand the history. We understand the decisions we've made before, the discussions that we've had. And so it is a rule that if you can't be there in person and you're otherwise unable to attend, then your Director General attends, but your Acting doesn't unless it is a long term replacement in that way. But we will meet again next week. I had planned to take leave, as I said a little while ago. I've obviously got to change those arrangements now, so I will be remaining in this role next week and the week after, and there won't be an Acting Prime Minister. My family will be obviously holidaying as we intended and where I get the chance I will join them, where I can from time to time. But we'll be continuing to have the full set of briefings that we are undertaking. Some of those can be done from where they will be, but some can't and I'll be doing that here as well as keeping in close contact with the Treasurer and the Deputy Prime Minister and the Health Minister as of course, next week we start the the vaccination of five to 11 year olds, and that's an important next milestone. And so we'll be here to ensure that we're overseeing all that activity. We're going to continue to meet every week. Our next meeting will be on Thursday week, and we will come back to the many items that we've flagged for further work today. So thank you all very much for your attention.