Page 4036 - Week 13 - Thursday, 2 December 2021
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a management approach, there needs to be continued engagement on the balance between measures to protect public health and an individual’s human rights.
The bill proposes the establishment of new powers to implement public health and social measures, COVID-19 vaccination requirements for certain workers, and test, trace, isolate and quarantine arrangements to suppress or prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the community. The new powers are time limited and are intended to serve as a step down from powers available to the minister and the Chief Health Officer under a public health emergency declaration, and a step up, or at least across, from the Chief Health Officer’s existing powers under the Public Health Act to manage notifiable diseases.
We have been operating in a once-in-a-century situation for more than 18 months. This bill outlines the government’s proposed approach to managing the ongoing risks associated with COVID-19, while stepping down from the significant powers afforded to the Chief Health Officer when a public health emergency declaration is in place. Since 16 March 2020, the ACT has been under a declared public health emergency due to the risk that COVID-19 presents. Over this period the Chief Health Officer has made a number of public health directions that have sought to reduce the risk associated with COVID-19 and ultimately protect the lives of people living in the ACT.
Our community has experienced two lockdowns and a range of public health restrictions over the past 18 months and more. Thankfully, our high COVID-19 vaccination coverage has now placed us in a strong position to manage the disease. The Chief Health Officer’s directions, guided by human rights provisions and principles, have helped to keep our community safe and allowed the ACT to progress through a phased reopening, consistent with the National Plan to transition Australia’s National COVID-19 Response.
After surpassing 95 per cent vaccination coverage for Canberrans aged 12 years and over, the ACT is now moving towards phase D of the national plan. In this phase we will manage COVID-19 in a similar way to other infectious diseases, with the aim of minimising cases in the community without stringent restrictions or lockdowns. As a result, a more targeted and measured set of public health and social measures and test, trace, isolate and quarantine—TTIQ—measures will be necessary to sustain our public health response going forward.
As of 30 November 2021, the World Health Organisation has reported that there have been 261 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and more than 5.2 million deaths as a result of COVID-19. As of 1 December 2021, the Australian government has reported over 211,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia and over 2,000 deaths. Yesterday, the ACT reported a total of 2,010 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the current outbreak, with 2,134 cases since March 2020 and, sadly, 14 deaths.
While these statistics and recent developments continue to be of concern, the government acknowledges that there may be less justification for a public health emergency declaration as we move into 2022, particularly in the context of the ACT’s very high vaccination rates and the high rates in the surrounding region. This
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