Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned the uncertainty of Covid will remain for some time, with the potential of new variants arriving in coming months.
It comes ahead of national cabinet meeting on Friday to review preparations for an expected winter surge of COVID-19 infections across the country.
Health experts have warned the colder months could bring a spike in case numbers, along with the first major flu outbreak in the country for two years.
Speaking at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit on Tuesday, Mr Morrison said while the risk of Omicron had declined since the beginning of the year, other pandemic challenges were still to come.
The uncertainty of Covid will remain for some time, with the potential of new variants arriving in coming months, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned
‘There always remains the risk, of course, of a new strain of the virus reaching our shores, and therefore, the uncertainties of Covid,’ Mr Morrison said.
‘Regrettably, they will continue to remain with us, but we can’t let them overwhelm us or intimidate us.’
The prime minister said Australia had weathered the threat of Omicron well compared to other nations, with booster rates across the country rising.
He said while the variant was still circulating in the community, the declining case numbers had given state and territory governments confidence to ease restrictions.
‘The worst of the workforce and broader economic impacts from the latest strain seem to be behind us, and we welcome that,’ he said.
‘I’m so pleased that the country is whole again with the opening of the Western Australia state border, likewise, it has given the Commonwealth government the confidence to reopen our international borders.’
While Australia’s booster rate is above 60 per cent of the eligible population, infectious disease experts have called for a more conscious effort from the government to boost the rate further, particularly among over-50s.
Professor Peter Collignon from the Australian National University told AAP there was no reason why the booster rate could not reach the vaccination rate for the primary course.
‘For people over 50, we should be aiming to have the booster at the same level at more than 90 per cent,’ he said.
‘People are still stuck in a zero-COVID mindset, and we have to be different in our approach.’
There have been 11 COVID-19 deaths that have been reported on Tuesday, of those six were in Victoria and five in NSW.
NSW registered more than 13,018 new infections while Victoria had 7043 new cases.
