CANBERRA, Jul 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the escalating virus crisis in the current winter months.
Albanese said, he will meet with state and territory leaders on Monday, amid pressure for the federal government to reinstate pandemic leave payments, for workers forced into isolation.
The 750-Australian dollar (505.8-U.S. dollar) payment, ended as planned at the end of Jun, with the government saying, it was moving into a new phase of managing the pandemic.
However, with COVID-19 infections surging, state governments, unions and members of federal government have called for the scheme to be reintroduced.
Albanese today resisted pressure to extend the payment, arguing, companies were now “providing those systems.”
“Good employers are recognising that people are continuing to work from home whilst they have COVID and are receiving, therefore, payments through that,” he told reporters today.
“These payments were put in place by the former government with an end date. That was a decision that they made at that time.”
It comes after Health Minister, Mark Butler, warned it’s likely, over the coming weeks that some millions of Australians will catch COVID-19, some of them catching it again after perhaps having caught it earlier this year.
Australia today reported more than 40,000 new infections and more than 60 deaths.
As of yesterday afternoon, 8,643,705 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Australia, including 10,518 deaths, and approximately 316,789 active cases, according to the latest figures from the Department of Health.
There were 4,512 cases being treated in Australian hospitals yesterday, including 139 in intensive care units.– NNN-AGENCIES
