"We recommend in lots of settings that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people receive certain treatments earlier and at younger ages, and without the system identifying that person as Indigenous, there's a risk they won't be able to access that therapy. "The reporting systems in most states are overwhelmed and, because of that, people aren't recording Indigenous status," he says. Jason Agostino, medical adviser to the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), says First Nations people have been more likely to be infected, and more likely to develop a severe illness, throughout the pandemic.īut he says since Omicron has taken hold, health authorities no longer have a clear picture of how Indigenous people are being impacted. 'This is about patient care and it's really being impacted by a lack of action' Mr Hunt also said the agreement meant there would be extra help available for aged care facilities that needed extra staff and resources.Īs well as staff, one of the other crucial resources private hospitals have to offer are beds in ICU. "The private hospitals agreement will see up to 57,000 nurses and 100,000 staff made available to Omicron-affected areas around the country," Health Minister Greg Hunt said. In return, the Commonwealth agreed to support private hospitals while elective surgeries - their main form of income - were cancelled. When the pandemic first began, the government struck a deal with private hospitals nationwide to gain access to beds and extra staff. What's this private hospital agreement all about?Īs we heard earlier, the federal government has re-activated an agreement with private hospitals that could see thousands of beds freed up to take COVID-19 patients from public hospitals in a bid to ease the burden on the health system. "This may be because we're used to healthcare workers wearing blue masks and now we associate these with people in caring or medical professions." "Our study suggests faces are considered most attractive when covered by medical face masks," he said. The study - published in the peer-reviewed journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications - asked 43 women to rate the attractiveness of 40 male faces, with and without different types of masks and coverings.Ĭardiff University school of psychology's Michael Lewis, the study's co-author and an expert in the psychology of faces, said they were surprised by the results, which indicated an overall sentiment of mask positivity.
Seven months after masks became mandatory in the United Kingdom, researchers at Cardiff University were curious to know whether the pandemic had altered perceptions of attractiveness. Striding up to greet someone for the first time with half your face obscured doesn't exactly fill you with meet-cute confidence.īut a new study by British academics suggests that protective face masks can make you more attractive - particularly the blue surgical kind. Surgical face masks make people look more attractive, new study finds