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Australia seems to have some good ideas for limiting coronavirus.
(cross-posted from GD)
From The Guardian's live rolling coverage site:
The Australian health minister, Greg Hunt, acknowledged that some comments he made on Sunday — reported without context — sparked confusion about the need for everyone in Australia with cold and/or flu like symptoms to get tested for coronavirus.
Hunt: So it’s a message to all of us to make sure that we’re reporting carefully and fully, but equally for us, we’ve already begun our communications in terms of what we’re providing online and the advice.
Hunt said more than 20,000 people have been tested in Australia so far.
So to recap on the substance of that funding announcement in Australia this morning:
$615m for primary care health networks, to cover costs of treatment, diagnosis and testing
A new Medicare telehealth item, so people in home isolation can be treated via telehealth. Health minister Greg Hunt said that will also mean that particularly vulnerable groups, like people with compromised immunity, do not have to come into hospital or a GP.
$200m to establish 100 respiratory clinics across the country.
$100m for workforce support for aged care.
$30m for research into vaccines, anti-virals, immunotherapy, or respiratory treatments
$1m in funding for the national medical stockpiling and national coordination.
Hunt: So it’s a message to all of us to make sure that we’re reporting carefully and fully, but equally for us, we’ve already begun our communications in terms of what we’re providing online and the advice.
Hunt said more than 20,000 people have been tested in Australia so far.
So to recap on the substance of that funding announcement in Australia this morning:
$615m for primary care health networks, to cover costs of treatment, diagnosis and testing
A new Medicare telehealth item, so people in home isolation can be treated via telehealth. Health minister Greg Hunt said that will also mean that particularly vulnerable groups, like people with compromised immunity, do not have to come into hospital or a GP.
$200m to establish 100 respiratory clinics across the country.
$100m for workforce support for aged care.
$30m for research into vaccines, anti-virals, immunotherapy, or respiratory treatments
$1m in funding for the national medical stockpiling and national coordination.
Article: Australia to unveil $2.4bn coronavirus health package including pop-up fever clinics
The Morrison government is set to announce bulk-billing for telehealth consultations and a $30m ad campaign
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/australia-to-unveil-24bn-coronavirus-health-package-including-pop-up-fever-clinics
Notable excerpts:
A key part of the package will be $205m for up to 100 new pop-up fever clinics that will be located in areas of need, and which will test people who are concerned they may have the virus. The aim is to divert people with mild or moderate symptoms away from hospital emergency departments and GP clinics to reduce the risk of the virus spreading. Severe cases will still present at hospitals.
Each of the slated clinics, to be staffed by GPs and nurses, will be able to see up to 75 patients a day over six months, with the potential of testing up to a million individuals within the next six months. Some of the new clinics will be established in existing practices, while others will be set up as standalone pop-up centres, with existing clinics to receive an initial $150,000 to set up and to help offset losses from normal business.
++++
While the government has indicated a pandemic is likely, efforts have so far been aimed at slowing the spread of the virus to allow the health system to cope with an expected surge in demand. Authorities are warning the spread of the disease could peak as early as May, ahead of the normal winter flu season.
Today’s package will also include a new Medicare item to allow doctors to charge for phone or video consultations for people with coronavirus symptoms who remain at home in self-isolation and quarantine, costing $100m for the next six months.
The service, which will start on Friday, is aimed at reducing the risk of exposure to others in the community and will be fully bulk billed. It will be made available to people isolating themselves at home on the advice of a medical practitioner or the guidance of the chief medical officer, and those who meet the “protocol criteria” for suspected infection based on advice from coronavirus hotline numbers or other trained staff.
Vulnerable groups, including those aged over 70, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged over 50, those with chronic health conditions, parents with new babies and people who are pregnant, will also be able to use the service. Any doctor forced into home isolation or quarantine will be able to continue providing services to their patients via telehealth, “as long as they have the capacity to provide services safely and in accordance with normal professional standards from home or other isolation area”.
The funding boost will be accompanied by a national $30m communications campaign, expected to start within days, that will have information to “prevent and mitigate the impacts of coronavirus”.
Morrison said the package, which also includes a $500m hospital funding package already announced for the states, would ensure Australia was as well prepared “as any country in the world” to respond to the virus threat.
Each of the slated clinics, to be staffed by GPs and nurses, will be able to see up to 75 patients a day over six months, with the potential of testing up to a million individuals within the next six months. Some of the new clinics will be established in existing practices, while others will be set up as standalone pop-up centres, with existing clinics to receive an initial $150,000 to set up and to help offset losses from normal business.
++++
While the government has indicated a pandemic is likely, efforts have so far been aimed at slowing the spread of the virus to allow the health system to cope with an expected surge in demand. Authorities are warning the spread of the disease could peak as early as May, ahead of the normal winter flu season.
Today’s package will also include a new Medicare item to allow doctors to charge for phone or video consultations for people with coronavirus symptoms who remain at home in self-isolation and quarantine, costing $100m for the next six months.
The service, which will start on Friday, is aimed at reducing the risk of exposure to others in the community and will be fully bulk billed. It will be made available to people isolating themselves at home on the advice of a medical practitioner or the guidance of the chief medical officer, and those who meet the “protocol criteria” for suspected infection based on advice from coronavirus hotline numbers or other trained staff.
Vulnerable groups, including those aged over 70, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged over 50, those with chronic health conditions, parents with new babies and people who are pregnant, will also be able to use the service. Any doctor forced into home isolation or quarantine will be able to continue providing services to their patients via telehealth, “as long as they have the capacity to provide services safely and in accordance with normal professional standards from home or other isolation area”.
The funding boost will be accompanied by a national $30m communications campaign, expected to start within days, that will have information to “prevent and mitigate the impacts of coronavirus”.
Morrison said the package, which also includes a $500m hospital funding package already announced for the states, would ensure Australia was as well prepared “as any country in the world” to respond to the virus threat.
I'm always skeptical with anything coming our of Australia's right-wing Murdoch-driven government, but they do seem to have some good concepts. Time will tell if they follow through.
KY..........
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