Key Points
- TGA approves booster dose in individuals aged 12-17
- Western Australia to close four PCR testing clinics by month end
- Global weekly COVID-19 cases declined for the eighth week in a row
An independent review into Australia's handling of the COVID-19 crisis noted that frontline workers, women, children, age care residents, people with disabilities, ethnic communities and international students "bore the brunt" of the pandemic.
"Governments and public servants were making decisions in a fog of uncertainty. None of the Panel (members) can be confident that they would have made decisions better at the time," the report said.
"But, looking back, we are persuaded that significant mistakes were made."
The report said the governments and businesses should have provided economic support fairly and equitably, lockdowns and border closures should have been used less, schools should have stayed open, and older Australians should have been better protected.
"Excluding migrants and international students from economic supports put people in danger," the report noted.
"The deployment of the police and military was counterproductive in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and in urban areas with large numbers of recent migrants and asylum seekers from war-torn countries."
It said the aged standardised COVID-19 death rate for people in Australia born overseas was almost three times as high as those born in Australia by January 2022.
"People born in the UK had similar mortality rates to those born in Australia. But for those born in the Middle East, it was over 12 times as high," it added.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the report does raise concerns and will feed into any national inquiry that the Labor government will undertake in the future.
"We need to learn the lessons from the pandemic," he told reporters.
Thewas funded by Andrew Forrest's Minderoo Foundation, the Paul Ramsay Foundation and the John and Miriam Wylie Foundation.
Australians testing positive to COVID-19 can continue to access Medicare rebates for telehealth services provided by any GP or other medical practitioners until 31 December, the Australian Medical Association said..
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has provisionally approved Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for use as a booster dose in individuals aged 12-17.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation will assess the benefit of the booster dose before recommending it to the federal health minister for final approval.
Western Australia will shut down The Rockingham General Hospital public drive-through clinic, Royal Perth Hospital walk-in clinic, and Regional clinics at Broome Health Campus and Bunbury Health Campus by the end of this month due to reduced PCR testing demand.
WHO's Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said global COVID-19 cases have dropped for eight weeks in a row, but COVID continues to remain a public health emergency of international concern.
Germany, France, China, Italy, and the US reported the highest global cases.
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