Australia’s coronavirus crisis has reached almost every corner of the country, with new lockdowns and restrictions announced as the highly contagious Delta strain spreads.
The new scheme will give indemnity to GPs who administer the AstraZeneca jab to people aged under 60 who ask for it.
But Mr Morrison warned it was “completely naive” to expect Australia to suddenly emerge from all of its coronavirus restrictions.
“It was never going to be a case where Australia was closed one day and open the next,” he said.
“The major frustration here is the virus, that’s the major thing working against Australia.
“We have a lockdown because we have a new Delta variant that is proving to be highly contagious than previous variants. The question will be: what will be the next variant?”
State and territory breakdown
Most states and territories are currently grappling with their own headaches from clusters that have emerged:
Morrison’s message to struggling Aussies
National Cabinet will meet again on Friday and “while we’re in this current situation, we will keep up that tempo”, Mr Morrison said.
Other measures agreed to by National Cabinet on Monday night included mandatory vaccines for quarantine workers and additional mandatory testing 2-3 days after leaving quarantine for returned travellers and anyone who had been isolating as a close contact.
Mr Morrison called on Australians currently gripped by coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions to “hang in there”.
“We can grow tired, we can grow frustrated, we can grow anxious — but how should we go forward?
“Do we give in to that or do we continue to show the same determination we’ve shown over that first year of the pandemic and more … we were able to pull through … like virtually no other (country).
“We’ve gotta hang in there, we don’t have a choice, the pandemic is still upon us.
“It’s the pandemic, that’s the reason why these things are happening, not just in Australia but all places around the world.”
