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Health | July 31, 2020

“We’re all in this together”: Kealy calls for co-operation and initiative

Member for Lowan Emma Kealy has implored local people to take initiative to ensure COVID-19 cases do not continue to increase in rural and regional communities.

Ms Kealy said the state government’s announcement today that masks would be compulsory across the state from Monday whenever anyone went outside their home was a common-sense decision, but was far from the only defensive measure people could adopt.

“We can’t afford to wait for governments and health services to mandate action – we need to be adaptive and ensure we are taking all reasonable steps to keep ourselves and our communities safe,” she said.

“We have seen the rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases in a number of our local government areas over the past two weeks. We also know that there are delays with the reporting of test results and delays in contact tracing, so the prevalence of COVID-19 in a particular community is not necessarily reflected in the health department data on a given day.

“We need to assume the virus could be anywhere, and adopt a defensive position by taking extra precautions if we need to go out, as well as continuing to maintain good overall hygiene and practice physical distancing.”

Ms Kealy has been calling on the government for more detailed COVID-19 case data so communities can respond to the risks accordingly.

“The level of uncertainty is having a huge impact on people’s lives in so many ways, and I absolutely understand the anxiety and fear in our communities at the moment,” she said.

“In some cases we have people who are too scared to leave their homes and are going without essential needs, and this cannot continue to happen.

“We need to ensure everyone – families, businesses, schools and other organisations – has all the information they need so they can make informed decisions quickly if necessary.”

Ms Kealy urged anyone with even the mildest of symptoms to get tested, and to isolate.

“Even with the delayed reporting of cases and contact tracing, getting tested if you are showing symptoms is one of the best things you can do to help our community get on top of this virus,” she said.

“I thank all those who have been tested so far, and send my best wishes for a full recovery to anyone who has tested positive.”