CANBERRA: The prime minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese has called an urgent national cabinet meeting to discuss the coronavirus epidemic that is now gripping the country throughout the winter months.
In response to calls for the federal government to reinstate pandemic leave benefits for employees placed in isolation, Albanese said he will meet with state and territory leaders on Monday, as per reports.
The government announced at the time that it was entering a new phase of handling the pandemic that the 750 Australian dollar (505.8 U.S. dollar) payment will come to an end as scheduled at the end of June. State governments, unions, and members of the federal government have demanded that the programme be revived, however, as COVID-19 cases are soaring.
On Friday, Albanese refused calls to prolong the payment, saying businesses were now "offering such systems." Good employers understand that employees continue to work from home when covered by Covid and are compensated as a result, he told reporters on Friday.
"The past government set up these payments with a deadline. They made that choice at that particular time. It follows Health Minister Mark Butler's warning that millions of Australians are likely to contract Covid in the upcoming weeks, some of whom may have already contracted it earlier this year. More than 40,000 new Covid infections and more than 60 fatalities were recorded in Australia on Friday.
According to the latest statistics from the Department of Health, as of Thursday afternoon, 8,643,705 cases of Covid had been reported in Australia, including 10,518 fatalities and about 316,789 active cases.
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