“The truth is that if you have mandates,you’ve got to enforce them. And the mandates,like when I spoke to the NSW premier last week,he indicated that whilst there are mandates on public transport in NSW,not everyone is wearing a mask,” Albanese said in Melbourne.
Albanese said businesses had adjusted to staff working from home during the pandemic and some work practices changed permanently as a result.
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“Businesses will continue to make those decisions,” he said,adding there were also broader economic implications at play.
“If you’re a business that relies upon people coming into the CBD to shop,in retail or hospitality,then your business can be hurt by that as well. So it’s a matter of getting the balance right.”
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly yesterday warned the latest Omicron subvariant poses a “significant” new threat and urged Australians to wear masks indoors as the government paused plans to wind up the COVID-19 vaccine taskforce and launched a campaign to lift the takeup of boosters.
Kelly said the BA.5 variant was much more infectious than earlier strains and noted vaccines alone did not stop transmission.