Key Points
- Victoria to set up a new pandemic preparedness centre
- Australia to provide $31.5 million for finding new ways to treat COVID-19
- A new study shows Paxlovid lowers hospitalisation and death risks in older people
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the COVID-19 isolation period has been reduced from seven to five days for asymptomatic people.
"Clearly, if you have symptoms, we want people to stay home," Mr Alabnese said after the meeting of national cabinet.
"We want people to act responsibly. Seven days isolation will remain for workers in high-risk settings, including aged care, disability care, and home care," he added.
Australia has also scraped the requirement of wearing face mask on domestic flights. The changes will come into force from 9 September.
On Wednesday, Australia reported at least 65 COVID-19 deaths, including 26 in Victoria, 22 in New South Wales and 10 in Queensland.
Victoria will provide $75 million to the University of Melbourne for establishing a new pandemic preparedness centre.
Canadian philanthropist and businessman Geoffrey Cumming will donate $250 million to the centre. It's the largest ever philanthropic donation to Australian medical research.
Australia will provide $31.5 million to researchers to find new ways to treat COVID-19 and understand its long-term impact.
Australia has crossed the 10 million mark for COVID-19 cases. As of 3 pm on 30 August 2022, 10,018,025 COVID-19 infections and 13,834 deaths have been reported in the country.
The median age of all cases and deaths is 31 years and 83 years, respectively.
A new Israeli study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that the antiviral pill Paxlovid reduces hospitalisation risk by 73 per cent and death by 79 per cent in people aged 65 and over.
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