Top doctors warn Australia is a ‘sitting duck’ for Covid outbreaks when borders finally reopen because our hospitals aren’t up to scratch
- Australian Medical Association warned federal gov to make major changes
- Fears nation is vulnerable to influenza and Covid-19 when borders open
- Borders closed since March 2020 but there are now fears this may backfire
Australia will be a sitting duck for coronavirus and the flu when international borders open due to the sub-standard operations of our major hospitals.
That’s the stark warning the Australian Medical Association has issued to the federal government ahead of a predicted re-opening of international borders by mid-2022.
AMA president Omar Khorshid said the current operation of our hospitals would not be able to handle a new outbreak of Covid-19 or a bad influenza season.
‘We are sitting ducks for not just COVID but for flu when those borders open,’ he told the National Press Club on Wednesday.
There are fears Australia could be easily exposed to Covid-19 when borders reopen sometime next year
Ambulance ramping, which is when patients have to wait around for emergency treatment after being rushed to hospital, has been getting more common around Australia as hospitals were incapable of handling the case load.
Dr Khorshid said more avoidable deaths would happen with the situation worse than it had been in a long time.
‘When you have public hospitals busting at the seams with ambulance ramping it’s hard to see how there’s any capacity to deal with the surge that we know happens normally every winter,’ he said.
Queensland is on high alert after a 44-year-old woman, who travelled from Victoria despite lockdown, tested positive on the Sunshine Coast.
Multiple exposure sites in Queensland and NSW have been identified with authorities attempting to trace the woman and her husband’s movements.
Victorians continue to lead the charge on vaccination numbers with Melbourne to lift some lockdown measures on Friday while retaining others.
Australia’s international borders have been closed since March 2020 to stop the virus coming in from overseas
There were more than 140,000 doses administered nationally over the past 24 hours taking the total past 5.3 million.
The number of people who have received the requisite two doses is 650,000.
ATAGI, which advises the federal government on vaccines, has given the green light for pregnant women to receive the Pfizer jab.
The expert panel revealed the updated advice in a joint announcement with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
‘Global surveillance data from large numbers of pregnant women have not identified any significant safety concerns with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines given at any stage of pregnancy,’ they said in a statement.
‘Furthermore, there is also evidence of antibody in cord blood and breastmilk, which may offer protection to infants through passive immunity.’