A significant increase in testing for COVID-19 is still needed to get on top of the outbreak in the North West of Tasmania.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said at a time when Tasmania’s death rate is the highest in the nation, it makes no sense not to use the full testing capacity available.
“It’s pleasing to see that the state was able to process around 500 tests from three aged care facilities in the North West that had potentially been exposed to the virus. And it’s a relief that, so far, only one positive case has been identified.
“This shows that we can undertake a large number of tests and process them rapidly.
“With cases still emerging in connection with the North West outbreak, more must be done to get a true picture of the spread of the virus.
“All health workers currently in isolation must be tested proactively – it’s not enough to wait for them to come forward if and when they get symptoms.”
Ms White said while significant attention rightly remains focused on controlling the outbreak in the North West of the case, other regions must not be overlooked.
“We have at least one positive case in the south of the state where there is no known source of infection. That’s very concerning as it suggests community transmission has occurred.
“I echo the comments of the Director of Public Health that testing and surveillance in the south and north are as important as managing the North West outbreak.
“The health minister and Premier must do all they can to rapidly implement the promised increase in testing capacity.
“And that capacity must be deployed to undertake testing of people in communities right across the state.
“All of us have the potential to become unwell with COVID-19, and also to infect others.
“We cannot afford to be complacent and we cannot afford to view this as a crisis only affecting the North West of the state.”
Rebecca White
Labor Leader
