Question Time

Coronavirus

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:07): My question is to the Premier. Is the Premier thoroughly briefed on the government's planning for a coronavirus pandemic?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:07): Can I just say to the house that I have been extraordinarily impressed with the way SA Health has worked together with all government departments in South Australia to understand the issues associated with the coronavirus, to put plans in place and to look at various scenarios to make sure that we as a government can respond to whatever scenario is presented.

I would also like to thank Dr Nicola Spurrier, who is the Chief Public Health Officer in South Australia, for the way she leads her team (the communicable diseases branch), and also the way the state government has been working with the federal government. I think that we all realise that there was a meeting last week where all the different health ministers around the country came together to receive an update, if you like, from the federal government with respect to various scenarios.

I am absolutely convinced that we have put the plans in place to deal with any likely eventuality. As people would be aware, when this coronavirus first broke out we did not have pathology services in South Australia that could do the coronavirus testing. In fact, in the first instance there were only labs in Victoria and New South Wales—a total of three labs for the entire country.

I am very pleased to say that SA Pathology worked very quickly, very diligently, to provide that service in South Australia. They did that in an exceptionally short period of time. We now have those pathology services available. My understanding is that at the moment approximately 250 screenings are conducted every day. In fact, South Australia now has a regime in place where any person who is having respiratory tests done in South Australia will automatically also be screened for the coronavirus. I am not sure if this exists in other jurisdictions, but I understand that this is a very high level of screening.

Yes, we have now had three people in South Australia who have had the coronavirus and two, of course, were originally isolated within the Royal Adelaide Hospital. They no longer have the coronavirus. I understand they still have ongoing testing in South Australia, but they have been discharged from the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

We see that the coronavirus has now moved from being predominantly in China and in other Asian countries and now we see fairly significant outbreaks in the Middle East and also in Europe. I think that what Dr Nicola Spurrier says that we need to be alert but not alarmed. We don't need to panic in Australia, but what we do need to be is as prepared as possible.

My understanding is that the Senior Management Council are now meeting twice weekly. This is almost a standard item on their agenda so that all government departments can be working in a collaborative way to make sure that we keep the people of South Australia free from the risk of a significant outbreak in this state.