Thousands of nurses marched in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, today to protest staff shortages, fatigue and stress during the new coronavirus pandemic.
In defiance of the ban on health workers’ strikes, thousands of white T-shirts marched to the state parliament to denounce their working conditions behind their surgical masks.
Crowds of nurses chanted slogans to express their anger at the permanent lack of beds and equipment in hospitals, for their fatigue in the face of the prolonged health crisis of the last two years, to demand increases.
Many with placards and banners with slogans such as “Thank you, they do not pay the rent”, “Stop telling us to make ends meet”, “More nurses now”, “Tired, exhausted, cut, burned”, succeeded against the political leadership which, according to them, chooses to ignore their problems.
Australian nursing staff have been required for two years, following extremely strict protocols, to carry out their day-to-day tasks and at the same time guarantee the smooth running of the unprecedented immunization program.
Despite advances in vaccination, cases of the new coronavirus have erupted in recent months, causing congestion in hospitals and reducing staff available as part of it becomes infected and is forced into isolation.
“People need to hear the truth, the current level of staff is not enough, it is dangerous, and it puts patients at risk,” said the New South Wales Nurses Association.
In a statement to the 2GB radio network, the New South Wales State Secretary of Health described the nurses’ strike as “unfortunate” and “disappointing”. Brad Hazard assured that he was working to find solutions, but added that changing the attitude of nursing staff towards patients would cost “a billion” Australian dollars.
His services issued a statement “thanking” the nurses for the “work they offer uninterruptedly during the two years of the pandemic” but noting that “the nurses (…) are more than ever in the history of New South Wales”.
The draconian policy of closing borders, testing, tracking and isolation has allowed Australia to limit the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic until recently. But the appearance of the Omicron variant has caused tens of thousands of SARS-CoV-2 infections and dozens of deaths due to COVID-19 every day. In the giant continent, the confirmed infections have now exceeded 2.5 million out of a total population of 25 million, while the death toll is now 4,664 (+46 in 24 hours).
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