Page 1467 - Week 06 - Thursday, 2 July 2020
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foreseeable future. This represents a “new normal” rather than a return to a pre-COVID-19 state.
We know that testing is one of the key parameters in guiding decisions around easing of public health measures and provides an important overview of the ACT situation. The ACT is continuing a program of enhanced testing for COVID-19 that involves testing symptomatic people who have no specific risk factors for COVID-19 exposure. The ACT has now conducted more than 30,000 COVID-19 tests.
There has been an increase in testing numbers in the ACT since April, which has been great to see. At times, this has resulted in increased wait times at some of our testing sites. Over the last two weeks, therefore, we have been reminding Canberrans that in addition to the drive-through centre at EPIC and the Weston Creek walk-in centre, there are other free commonwealth-funded testing locations across the territory: YourGP@Crace; Lakeview Medical Practice in Tuggeranong town centre; and Winnunga Nimmityjah, which provides free and culturally appropriate assessment and testing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and existing clients. These respiratory assessment centres are also free, and the Crace and Tuggeranong centres operate on an appointment basis, which may be more convenient for many people.
We are constantly reviewing the wait times at the testing centres run by Canberra Health Services, and CHS was quick to boost staffing at EPIC and Weston Creek when we saw an increase in demand. This responsiveness will continue to ensure that anyone who seeks COVID-19 testing can get timely access to a testing site. This is critical because, while we are still in a very strong position in the ACT, the pandemic continues to accelerate in many regions of the world, with the World Health Organisation reporting that globally the number of cases has now surpassed 10 million, with over 500,000 deaths.
The need for ongoing vigilance has been highlighted by the outbreaks in Victoria, which have included numerous cases with no known exposure source, reflecting an increase in community transmission. Over the past week, to 1 July 2020, 330 new cases were reported in Australia; of these, 312, or 95 per cent, were reported from outbreaks in Victoria. The majority of these cases are locally acquired and are associated with community transmission in localised geographical areas, as well as several known outbreaks.
Madam Speaker, the situation in Victoria is rapidly evolving. There is a large-scale testing blitz underway in Melbourne suburbs identified as current hotspots, and a tightening of restrictions was announced in Victoria this week. As members would know, on 30 June the Victorian Premier announced lockdowns of the suburbs in these hotspots to help control the spread of COVID-19. This is a clear reminder of the risks posed by the virus and how quickly outbreaks can occur.
The recent spike in cases in Victoria also represents a potential source of further cases and outbreaks in the ACT, particularly as travel and other restrictions are eased, and noting that the ACT’s borders remain open to individuals travelling from other Australian jurisdictions. This highlights the need to continue planning for the possibility of a resurgence of cases and clusters, particularly in vulnerable populations
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