Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Federal Government is "meeting its responsibilities" and it's the job of the states to fix the long queues at testing sites, as COVID-19 cases and demand for testing across Australia soar to their highest levels of the pandemic.
Mr Morrison said an impromptu meeting of national cabinet would take place on Thursday to discuss the record-breaking case numbers, pressure on hospitals, and the overwhelming demand for tests.
The cabinet will also potentially redefine the definition of a "close contact".
"With the pace at which Omicron is moving, it's not surprising I have called a further meeting of the national cabinet," the Prime Minister said.
"In the course of Omicron, the issue is not the number of cases. The issue is the incidence of serious disease.
"So while we do have a high volume of cases ... there is ample capacity in our hospital system to deal with the challenges that we're presently confronted with," Mr Morrison told reporters outside Kirribilli House in Sydney.
Asked by a reporter whether long lines and hours-long waits was a sign of "political failure", Mr Morrison said it's the responsibility of the states and territories to resolve issues pertaining to long queues at COVID-19 testing sites.
"This is the normal process. States provide these issues of test and Commonwealth provides vaccines. We both have those responsibilities and we both exercise those responsibilities," Mr Morrison said.
COVID-19 testing clinics and laboratories in NSW are being overwhelmed by demand, driving up the time taken to process tests and delaying diagnoses. Source: AAP
"So I welcome the fact the New South Wales Government is doing what they're doing and the Victorian Government is doing what they're doing. That's their job."
Speaking to reporters in Adelaide earlier on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said the Prime Minister and his government "are once again showing a lack of leadership, consistently passing the buck to state and territory governments".
"Why is it that there is no issue to be for Scott Morrison to show how small his vision for this country is?" Mr Albanese said.
"Scott Morrison refuses to step up. We have the New South Wales government trying to purchase rapid antigen tests that will be available, wait for it, at the end of January, when we have a crisis right now."
Mr Albanese said everything the government has done in the past four years has been "characterised by being too little, too late".
"It's characterised by failing to get ahead, saying of course it wasn't a race. Now he says with the rapid antigen tests that not only is it not a race ... they're not even on the field at all. They're leaving it completely to the state," he said.
The PM's and opposition leader's comments came on the day the nation recorded a steep increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases.
The numbers nearly doubled in New South Wales,, with hospital admissions rising to 625, including 61 people in intensive care.
Victoria also set a new record on Wednesday, with five lives lost and 397 people in hospitals across the state, including 62 in intensive care, 28 on ventilators and a further 44 in ICU not considered active according to the Victorian Department of Health.
