Page 1041 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 May 2020
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vulnerable population groups and high-risk settings. At a local level, the Chief Health Officer’s advice is:
There is no evidence of community transmission of COVID-19 in the ACT however COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease and there is a high risk of further cases.
The bottom line, as Dr Coleman puts it, is:
While Australia has been successful in flattening the curve by significantly reducing the effective reproduction rate of the virus, it is important to remain vigilant. The global pandemic is not over and the risk of further outbreaks in Australia remains high.
Dr Coleman has advised that the public health emergency declaration in relation to COVID-19 should remain in place until 7 July 2020, subject to regular and ongoing review. She notes that, while specific mechanisms vary, all Australian jurisdictions are maintaining public health emergency status at this time and continuing to focus on the suppression of COVID-19.
The fact is that this is a global pandemic. Around the world we continue to see large numbers of cases and fatalities reported in many regions. The World Health Organisation’s situation report of 18 May 2020 confirmed over 4.7 million cases and 315,000 deaths globally. While Australia’s strong border measures provide a high level of protection, until there is a vaccine and/or effective treatment, we will need to adjust to a “new normal” to manage the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks.
This includes continuing to practise physical distancing, avoiding large crowds and gatherings, maintaining good hand and respiratory hygiene, and staying home if you are unwell. Continuing this vigilance will help to prevent the possibility of a second wave of infection in Australia and here in the ACT.
We know that people are eager to leave their homes and it is understandable that people want to get out and about. However, we must remember that it takes only one person with COVID-19 to come into contact with others to start a new chain of transmission and create a cluster of cases.
We do not want to go backwards, because we know just how damaging that would be to community and business confidence. It is important that people do not become complacent or careless with their actions.
Surveillance is also critical to ensure that we identify cases of COVID-19 that may appear in our community. That is why we have been strongly encouraging anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, such as fever, shortness of breath, sore throat or a cough, to please get tested. More recently, testing has been made available for people exhibiting a broader range of symptoms, subject to assessment by a health professional. These symptoms are sudden onset of loss of smell, loss of taste, runny nose, muscle pain, joint pain, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting or loss of appetite.
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