Sick Australians, including cancer patients, transplant patients and the elderly, should be able to access life-saving treatment without contracting COVID.

In fact, safe access to healthcare is a right for all Australians. Healthcare providers should have multiple layers of protection to reduce risk, including safer air through clean air legislation and masks in healthcare settings.

Victorian data shows that 1 in 10 people who catch COVID in hospital die - that's 100 times the rate for the general population. In 2022, 4,477 people caught COVID in Victorian hospitals alone*. Data is not available for other states at this time.

Quote from The Age "More than 3200 people are suspected to have caught the virus while in hospital between January 1 and October 26 last year, according to leaked Victorian Health Department data. Of these patients, at least 344 – more than 10 per cent – died. Patients in hospitals are particularly vulnerable to COVID infections."

The government must take urgent action to ensure that people who are at risk can access healthcare safely.

People who are at higher risk of poor outcomes of COVID are part of our community. They work, go to school, shop and have families - they deserve to be protected.


* Estimated from FOI covid data from Vic Dept of Health.

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