Australians urged to work from home as winter omicron wave swamps hospitals
July 20, 2022, 3:40 pm

Australians urged to work from home as winter omicron wave swamps hospitals

Covid vaccination (Photo: Pixabay)

Australians admitted to hospitals from COVID-19 neared record levels on Wednesday (July 20) as authorities urged businesses to let staff work from home and recommended people wear masks indoors and get booster shots urgently amid a major coronavirus outbreak, the Arabnews reported, citing Reuters.

Australia is in the grip of a third omicron wave driven by the highly transmissible new subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, with more than 300,000 cases recorded over the past seven days.

Authorities say the actual numbers could be double that total, and Wednesday’s 53,850 new cases was the highest daily tally in two months.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is resisting pressure to reinstate tough curbs to halt the spread of the virus, including making masks mandatory indoors, though he encouraged people to wear it.

“The truth is that if you have mandates, you’ve got to enforce them,” Albanese told reporters on Wednesday (July 20). “Whilst there are mandates on public transport ... not everyone is wearing a mask.”

Australia is in the grip of a third omicron wave driven by the highly transmissible new subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, with more than 300,000 cases recorded over the past seven days - Photo. Pixabay

Albanese said businesses and employees must decide together on any work-from-home arrangement, as unions called for employers to do more for their staff.

Australian Council of Trade Unions President Michele O’Neil said that employers must go beyond the government’s pandemic leave payments and provide paid leave at full pay for workers who need to isolate, and offer free rapid antigen tests.

O’Neil said: “No worker should have to decide between putting food on the table or isolating with COVID.”

Last week, Australia reinstated support payments for casual workers who have to quarantine.

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Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly predicted the number of people ending up in hospital will soon hit a record high, and urged businesses to let more staff work from home.

Australia could see “millions” of new cases over the coming weeks, authorities have warned.

About 5,350 Australians are currently in hospital with COVID-19, not far off the record 5,390 recorded in January during the BA.1 outbreak, official data showed.

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Numbers in the states of Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia are already at their highest since the pandemic began.

Many frontline health workers are also sick or in isolation, further straining the health system.

Australian doctors said masks must be made mandatory in indoor venues.

Australian Medical Association President Omar Khorshid told radio station 2GB: “We don’t have optional seat belts, we don’t have optional speed limits. There’s a lot of limits on our freedoms that we accept because it’s the right thing to do.”

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Authorities have also warned of a lag in people taking their booster shots.

So far, 95 percent of people above 16 have had two doses, helping keep Australia’s total COVID-19 cases just under 9 million and deaths at 10,884, far lower than many countries. But only about 71 percent have received three or more doses.

Source: arabnews

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”