Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia is not out of the woods yet. Photo / News Corp Australia
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia is not out of the woods yet. Photo / News Corp Australia
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia has no remaining coronavirus hot spots but warned the country is "not out of the woods" yet.
In a press conference on Sunday, Hunt confirmed the federal government has removed all hot spots in Australia following only one confirmed case through community transmissionin the past couple of days.
"There are no remaining hotspot definitions," Hunt said.
"Of course, inevitably, there will be days of new cases. There will be days where there may be a requirement for Commonwealth hotspot definition to be reintroduced. But they'll be done on the basis of that, and cases."
Despite the positive response to recent cluster outbreaks in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland, Hunt said Australia would still be impacted as the world continues to grapple with soaring virus numbers.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says there are no longer any Covid-19 hot spots in place within Australia. Photo / News Corp Australia
"We're not out of the woods because the world isn't out of the woods," he said. "And our challenges remain always, while there is a disease that is abroad in the rest of the world, but Australians are doing incredibly well."
Hunt also said Queensland's response to the mutant UK strain of Covid-19 appearing in a hotel quarantine worker in Brisbane showed state governments and health departments are able to quash potential outbreaks.
The federal health minister also said he had asked the Therapeutic Goods Administration to seek further information on the Pfizer vaccine, following a Norwegian report about the risks of its administration.
Media reports out of Norway have flagged six more elderly patients who were given the vaccine died after being inoculated, bringing the total to 29.
"We have been in contact with the Foreign Minister, and Marise Payne will task DFAT to seek advice directly from the Norwegian government," Hunt said.
"In addition, I've briefed both the Acting Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's Office today. So as further information is available, we'll share that with the Australian public."
