Australia's Medical Association VP warned govt on procuring RATs in September: Report

As cases of COVID-19 continue to witness a rise in Australia, Australian Medical Association Vice President Chris Moy has insisted that he h told senior executives in health department to develop a plan for obtaining rapid antigen tests (RATs) in September. Speaking to Guardian Australia, Chris Moy claimed that he was told that government was t interested in getting involved in private market. Moy mentioned that he h raised question as he was aware of what was happening in or countries. 

Chris Moy has revealed that he knew that country required rapid antigen tests (RATs) and that y needed a proper plan to procure m. AMA Vice President Chris Moy furr mentioned that y have been “caught short” due to Omicron and number of COVID-19 cases. He ded that y need to be sure if y are going to depend on private market in a health emergency. statement of Chris Moy comes at a time when Australia is witnessing a rise in COVID-19 cases driven by highly transmissible Omicron variant. 

Reports of overpricing of COVID-19 tests in Australia

Rod Sims, chair of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, on Tuesday, told retailers that watchdog would “name and shame” companies involved in “unconscionable conduct” over price of COVID-19 tests, as per Guardian report. Sims raised concern over price of rapid antigen tests and revealed his plan to write to both suppliers and retailers of se tests to kw about ir stock levels. He ded that y have started conducting an investigation about reports related to overpricing of tests. He called on people to contact ACCC if y h been told to pay a high price for test.

COVID-19 situation in Australia

According to Australian Health Department, as of January 4, 47816 COVID-19 cases have been reported in last 24 hours taking overall tally to 547,653. Among total number of people currently hospitalised are 2682 and 184 are in ICU. total number of fatalities reported due to COVID-19 in Australia is 2271. 19,475,425 people above of 16 have received first dose of vaccine while 18,872,228 people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 2,566,329 people have received booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine.