Good morning. Today marks the opening the first parliamentary sittings for the new government. It will be largely ceremonial, but once the formalities are complete there’s plenty on the agenda – including new climate policies and paid leave for people facing domestic violence.
Australian hospital are struggling with the highest number of Covid-19 patients of the entire pandemic. On Monday, there were 5,429 Covid patients in hospital, surpassing the previous record of 5,390 set in late January. The number of patients in intensive care is down from 420 patients in January to 161 on Monday. But epidemiologist Prof Mike Toole said this was driven by the virus hitting older Australians in aged care. “A lot of the deaths are in aged care homes and a lot more people are dying in aged care compared with ICU,” he said.
