Stupidity or careful planning by the ALP/LNP duopoly knows no bounds

from ABC

Supermarket giant Coles is introducing purchase limits on meat products across NSW, as staff shortages cause major issues in supply chains.

Key points:
· Coles imposes limits on packets of mince, chicken breast, chicken thigh and sausages
· The meat industry wants isolation rules for its workers in line with healthcare
· A leading economist warns the situation will get worse as more workers get sick

Customers will be allowed to buy a maximum of two packets of mince, chicken breast, chicken thigh and sausages.

Australian Meat Industry Council CEO Patrick Hutchinson said supply chains were being disrupted by workers getting sick at the same time, contributing to increasingly bare shelves in supermarkets and meat shortages.

“We’re seeing abattoirs and processing facilities on the eastern seaboard, either working at next-to-no staff or closed and that’s now causing gaps in our supply chain,” Mr Hutchinson said.

“It’s all food that’s being affected here … farmers will be the ones who suffer.”

He said the crisis in the industry meant demand for meat on Australia Day may not be met.

The Meat Industry Council called on the government to allow employees to ask asymptomatic close contacts to come back to work — the same isolation conditions as healthcare workers.

The staffing issues are affecting all industries and a leading economist warns the situation will worsen as more and more workers fall ill with COVID-19.
Jim Stanford from the Centre for Future Work said worker absenteeism in essential services like healthcare, childcare centres and aged care could present a “life-threatening catastrophe”.
Shortages are affecting “everything from your neighbourhood coffee shop or pub, up to major corporations, factories, transportation companies”.
Dr Stanford said one-third of workers in NSW could be in isolation over the coming weeks.
On Tuesday, more than 3,000 health staff were furloughed, because they had COVID-19 or were a close contact.
NSW nurses have told the ABC they’re feeling pressured not to take sick leave or mental health days, with staff members managing the workload of several people at once.
Nurses reveal they’re feeling pressured not to take sick leave.
Regional healthcare worker and union member Gil Wilson said overtime was at record levels.
“Everybody is doing extra shifts, the hospital itself seems to be functioning on the goodwill of the nurses,” Mr Wilson said.

Childcare, transport and emergency service workers are also feeling the pressure, with firefighters backfilling other stations and rail services to be cut back from next Monday.
Today, a number of bus, train and ferry services were either delayed or cancelled.
A Transport for NSW spokesperson said they were trying to manage the impact of COVID across the network for both staff and commuters.
They thanked people for their patience but urged them to plan ahead.
More than 300 childcare centres were closed on Wednesday due to COVID-related issues.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet admitted the staffing issues were an “incredible challenge”, particularly for smaller business which he said would be forced to close at various points.

The Premier said some staffing woes were being caused by workers isolating as a precaution.
“I have received substantial feedback that people believe they cannot go to work because they are deemed to be a close contact when they are actually not one.”

The federal government will provide free RAT tests in testing clinics and Mr Perrottet said the state government was working on providing them at “schools, healthcare and the like”.

“There is no dollar figure that we will not put on the table to ensure as we move through this next phase, rapid antigen tests are available to anybody.”

Editor: Doctors have warned the Rapid Antigen Test is more inaccurate than the discontinued PCR test. The real numbers of those who tested positive with Covid using the RAT test are low. The RAT test is about 50 per cent accurate and can record almost any infection. So-called Omicron infections are no more than the common influenza Type A according to a number of doctors.#