The federal government has confirmed it will not be extending the offer of free rapid antigen tests beyond the end of July, despite warnings the current COVID outbreak is only going to worsen. auspol 7NEWS
But with COVID cases rising in recent weeks and new Omicron subvariants becoming more prevalent, health experts question whether it’s the right time to scrap the measure.
“This is particularly important for people with high risk factors such as underlying health conditions, those facing situations where the risk of transmission is high, and patients who can’t be vaccinated. “When you factor in that someone may have to take multiple tests over numerous days you can see how it quickly becomes unaffordable.
“While recognising that our approach to test-trace-isolate has changed since the program was launched in January, testing with even mild symptoms remains an expectation of everyone in the community.”According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day national average of new COVID cases on June 1 was 7384.Omicron sub-variants, summed BA.4 and BA.5, have quickly become dominant in Victoria and are believed to be circulating elsewhere.
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