Health budget tops $132bn as Treasury says new Covid wave likely to hit this winter

The 2022 federal budget allocates $4.2bn in 2022-23 for the health response to Covid-19, including $2.6bn to replenish Australia’s stockpile of PPE. Photograph: Dave Hewison/Speed Media/REX/Shutterstock

A new wave of Covid-19 is likely to hit Australia this winter, the government assumes in the budget, causing high rates of absenteeism and pressure on supply chains.

It forecasts the economic impact of outbreaks will continue to diminish but raises the possibility of a more bleak outlook if a more virulent variant emerges.