Experts and vulnerable Australians urge politicians to follow medical advice on Covid measures including masks

The woman, who lives in Princes Hill in Melbourne, told Guardian Australia she is frustrated that despite hospitals facing staff shortages and bracing for thousands more Covid and flu hospitalisations in coming weeks, the health minister ignored advice from government health advisers to reintroduce mask mandates in crowded indoor settings.

She urged Thomas to follow the advice of the chief health officer and other health experts.

The president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Omar Khorshid, on Tuesday urged politicians to follow the advice of their health advisers as Covid spreads, including any advice for the reintroduction of masks in high-risk settings. Khorshid said the most vulnerable are already being affected by the removal of medicare-subsidised extended telehealth consultations.

Program director of infectious diseases and immunology at Griffith University, Prof Nigel McMillan, said the federal government also had not gone far enough to improve access to life-saving antiviral drugs to the most vulnerable. While he welcomed broadened eligibility criteria announced at the weekend, McMillan said pressures on GPs meant vulnerable patients who are elderly or with underlying health conditions might still find it difficult to get an appointment and pick up a prescription.

He believes pharmacists should be given approval to prescribe the antivirals directly to vulnerable people with Covid-19, which he said would ease pressure on GPs.