Households told to stock up on medical supplies amid Omicron COVID surge

The advice from the nation's deputy chief medical officer, Michael Kidd, came ahead of the start of the national vaccine rollout for five-11 year olds on Monday.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has insisted there are enough supplies to vaccinate the nation's 2.3 million school-aged children, amid reports of parents struggling to book appointments and GPs low on stock.

The new variant continues to spread rapidly in Australia, placing pressure on hospitals and causing major disruptions across the economy as workers are forced into isolation.

The ACT government has chosen not to follow NSW and Queensland's lead in allowing close contacts employed in critical industries to return to work if they aren't experiencing symptoms, a move aimed at keeping supply chains in those states running.

The Barr government has also held off on imposing further social restrictions as it continues to monitor the virus' spread through the Canberra community.

Dancing, as well as eating and drinking while standing up at Canberra hospitality venues was banned over the weekend as daily case numbers climbed into the thousands for the first time in the pandemic.

The ACT reported another 1039 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, with the 27 people now in hospital.

NSW reported 16 COVID-related deaths on Sunday - the state's highest death toll since the start of the pandemic - as well as more than 30,000 new cases.

Victoria reported four deaths and almost 45,000 new cases

As case numbers soar around the country, Professor Kidd said it was "likely" that many Australians would contract the virus in the coming days and weeks - if they hadn't already.

But with the protection of vaccines, he said most people would experience either mild or no symptoms and be able to manage their illness at home.

Households should prepare by making sure they had supplies of paracetamol and ibuprofen, Professor Kidd said. He also recommended using electrolytes to maintain hydration.

"It is important to be prepared because you won't be able to go to your supermarket or pharmacy if you are diagnosed with COVID 19," he said.

Asked if the advice represented a shift in focus from preventing transmission to preparing for inevitable infections, Professor Kidd insisted that people should still try and avoid contracting the virus.

"Nobody wants to be infected with a serious infectious disease and although most people will have mild symptoms or no symptoms, some people are still going to become seriously unwell with COVID-19," he said.

Mr Hunt told reporters in Canberra that it was "very heartening" that there were only 76 patients on ventilators across the country despite the massive surge in cases. He said that up to two thirds of patients in intensive care were unvaccinated.

"What we're seeing is obviously a significant increase in Omicron cases, which is clearly vastly more transmissible, but equally, significantly less severe," he said.

In some of his strongest criticisms yet, Labor leader Anthony Albanese accused the Morrison and Perrottet Coalition governments of pursuing a "let it rip" strategy to COVID-19.

"There are major issues with the pressure on the hospital systems," Mr Albanese said.

"And that's a direct result of some of the attitudes of the NSW government and the federal government. The truth is this. The 'let it rip' approach is tearing communities apart."

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