Australian doctors warn of risks to hospitals once COVID-19 is reduced

SYDNEY, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Australian doctors warned on Thursday that the country’s hospitals are unprepared to meet government reopening plans, even with higher vaccination rates as some states prepare for move from a virus suppression strategy to living with COVID-19.

The Australian Medical Association (WADA) said the healthcare system is in danger of closing in on a “permanent cycle of crisis” and has called for a new modeling to see if staffing levels in hospitals can withstand the expected increase in cases where blocking rules are facilitated.

“If you’ve opened up and haven’t looked at the safety nets or lifeguards we have, we may end up trying to push more people into the lifeguards and overturning them,” WADA Vice President Chris Moy said tell ABC.

Australia, in July, unveiled a four-stage plan to return to greater freedoms when the country reaches 70% -80% vaccination. read more But virus-free Queensland and Western Australia have said they may not adhere to these plans as the deal ended when cases in New South Wales were much smaller.

On Thursday, New South Wales reported 1,288 new locally acquired cases, just below the maximum of 1,290 pandemic blows on Monday. Seven new deaths were recorded.

A total of 957 people are in hospitals, up from 698 last week, while cases in intensive care units (ICUs) jumped close to 40% to 160, 64 of which require ventilation.

Authorities quadrupled the number of intensive care fans in the state to 2,000 early last year, but Moy of the medical association said governments should focus on hospital staff before relaxing the blocking rules.

“It’s not just the number of fans, it’s not the number of IC units, it’s the number of staff and people they will have to deal with when we open,” he said.

“DON’T TAKE THE INEVITABLE”

Growing cases forced Victoria to join New South Wales on Wednesday to abandon a COVID-zero target, with both states now aiming for rapid vaccinations as a path to freedom after a variant outbreak failed. of the Delta, even after a blockade of weeks. Read more

New cases in Victoria jumped to 176 on Thursday, the biggest daily rise of the year, from 120 a day earlier.

Australia has largely survived COVID-zero for much of the pandemic, recording 1,019 deaths in total and just over 56,500 cases. But a slow deployment of vaccination has left him vulnerable to further infections and hospitalizations.

To date, only 36% of people over the age of 16 have been fully vaccinated, well below most comparable countries.

The federal government urged all states to follow the national reopening plan, and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said states cannot “delay the inevitable.”

“You have to learn to live with COVID-19. COVID-19 can reach your state in a week, it can be a month, it can be a little later. But the reality is that we can’t eliminate the virus.” Frydenberg told Nine News on Thursday.

Reports of Renju Jose; edited by Richard Pullin

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