Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong [front, middle] with other medical staff in the North

All leave for medical staff in the North will be deferred from tomorrow onwards to support the need for extra staff in health facilities.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says they have reminded all medical teams to remain professional at all times irrespective of the ongoing stressors of the pandemic and difficult individual situations.

Dr Fong says they are committed to supporting their teams through these difficult times adding that the teams will focus on identifying, protecting, and monitoring the vulnerable and escalate care as required.

The PS says this will include the focus on booster doses, protecting aged care homes, outreach to remote settings, line listing and follow-up of high-risk individuals, and setting up intermediate care facilities with appropriate standard operating procedures.

Dr Fong adds that at some point, the Health Ministry will need people to develop safe COVID habits to safely navigate the current pandemic and not rely on mandates and enforced rules.

He says that enforcing settings-based measures and enforced rules are just one of many ways to promote a message to build better population-wide COVID safe habits.

Dr Fong is hoping that in due course these COVID safe measures will become habits, as they also protect people from a wide range of respiratory infections.