Canberra [Australia], July 22 (ANI/Xinhua): The Australian government has launched a campaign to encourage the uptake of antiviral treatments for coronavirus amid surging COVID-19 cases in winter.

Mark Butler, the Minister for Health, on Friday announced a new advertising campaign encouraging eligible Australians to access treatments.

Authorities earlier in July expanded subsidized access to the treatments under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

It means more people at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 can now receive subsidized oral antiviral treatments, including Australians aged 70 and over, those 50 and over with two risk factors and so on.

The government move to promote uptake comes amid concerns that the first batch of 500,000 treatments that arrived in Australia early in 2022 could expire in the next few months.

"While vaccination against COVID-19 remains the first and best defense, oral antiviral treatments offer another valuable tool in Australia's response to COVID-19," Butler said in a statement.

"We know these medicines can prevent at-risk people from severe COVID-19, hospitalizations and worse."Australia on Friday reported more than 50,000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 50 deaths.

As of Thursday afternoon, a total of 8,966,804 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Australia, including 10,968 deaths, and approximately 363,001 active cases, according to the latest figures from Department of Health.

There were 5,360 COVID-19 cases being treated in Australian hospitals on Thursday -- up from 4,512 a week earlier -- including 162 in intensive care units. It marks the highest number of hospitalizations in recent months. (ANI/Xinhua)