Page 939 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 May 2020
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distress, unease and disruption in our community, and its effects will continue to be felt for years to come as our society adapts to living with this virus.
I want to particularly acknowledge and extend my sympathies to those who have lost family and friends during this time of physical distancing. The inability to visit family members at the end of their lives, to gather and grieve together and to celebrate lives well lived, as we would normally do, will have an ongoing impact on people as they process these losses. This has been recognised in the mental health package announced yesterday, and I would encourage people to reach out if they are struggling with any aspect of COVID-19’s impact on their lives. This includes the impact of losing a job or a livelihood and great uncertainty about the future for both employees and business owners. Everyone in this place has recognised the significant economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and we know that our economy, while relatively well placed for recovery, will not snap back overnight.
Madam Speaker, I am incredibly proud of the way Canberrans have, despite these many challenges, collectively helped to reduce the spread in the ACT by following the health advice and complying with the public health directions. We have stepped up and given our health services and community the best possible chance to minimise the impact of COVID-19. Thank you. It is this collective contribution that has helped us make substantial gains in slowing down the virus in the ACT and enabled our health system to plan and prepare for the next phases of this pandemic.
COVID-19 has brought many changes to our everyday lives that will remain for the foreseeable future. I do not think I can repeat enough that ensuring hand hygiene, good respiratory etiquette and staying home when sick are crucial behaviours now, but they should be maintained beyond this pandemic.
From the very beginning of the pandemic, the ACT government has prioritised the health and safety of Canberrans and is continuing to work to ensure that the community stays safe as we move through the various stages of the emergency response. The public health emergency declared on 16 March 2020 has been extended and remains in force. This declaration has allowed the Chief Health Officer to take the necessary actions to keep Canberrans as safe as possible through this outbreak.
As of Wednesday, 6 May 2020, 107 people had been confirmed to have COVID-19 in the ACT and almost 10,000 negative tests had been undertaken. All positive cases so far have been linked to overseas travel, including cruise ships, or interstate travel, or have been a close contact of a confirmed case, with the exception of one case which is believed to have been locally acquired from an unknown contact.
Several weeks ago we thought it would be almost inevitable that we would start to see community transmission of COVID-19 in the ACT. I am very pleased that we have been successful in avoiding this up until now, and this is due to the efforts of all Canberrans, who have followed the public health advice. It is also due to the work of our wonderful contact tracing team within the ACT Health Directorate. The community is indebted to the dedication of these disease detectives, as they have become known, for their work with positive cases to identify all close contacts and provide ongoing support to individuals during self-isolation and self-quarantine.
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