Coronavirus

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (15:46): Our communities across South Australia are facing a threat on a scale not seen for 100 years. First and foremost, our community is facing a potential health crisis due to a pandemic with great potential to take many lives within our community caused by the virus COVID-19 that was not even known to exist until January of this year.

Whilst 80 per cent of people infected are likely to have mild symptoms, the risk to those vulnerable, including older people and those with chronic illnesses, is very real and in many cases fatal. Moreover, the risk is not only that vulnerable people become unwell, but if the spread of the virus is uncontrolled then the number of people requiring high-level medical care will exceed the capacity of our health system and then people cannot receive the care that they need. This is an outcome that governments across Australia are working hard to avoid at all costs.

Given that the COVID-19 virus has not been seen by humans before, our immune systems do not recognise it and thus the virus spreads readily from person to person right around the world, as we have already seen. This is the reason that following the public health advice it is so critical to be practising social distancing and self-isolation where that is required. Every additional person we come into contact with is another additional opportunity for transmission. Each additional instance of transmission has an exponential impact on the number of people who ultimately become infected, also exponentially increasing the number of vulnerable people who become infected. Social distancing is something that we must all do and it will save lives.

In amongst what does seem like doom and gloom, I would like to assure my community that the Marshall government, in concert with other governments across the nation, is doing everything possible to protect the lives of South Australians and the lives of Australians right across the country. We are well placed here in South Australia, and other jurisdictions around the world are ahead of us in terms of the extent of the spread of infection. This provides us with an opportunity to learn from them. Moreover, even within Australia, with the state border controls to be in place shortly, we can slow the seeding of infection into our state and learn from what happens in other jurisdictions.

The Marshall government has worked hard to ensure that the rate of testing for the virus is world leading to help track the spread of the virus and inform future planning in the health system, has stepped up capacity within our health system to deal with the demand that we all hope will not be realised and is introducing other measures to help protect the vulnerable and maximise social distancing.

Of course, the devastating impact that this pandemic is already having in our community is the impact on so many people's livelihoods. On my way here this morning, I went past a long line-up of people at the Modbury Centrelink office, waiting for it to open. It is truly devastating that so many people in our community are right now so concerned for their future, through no fault of their own.

It has also been devastating to see so many local businesses within my own community who have had to lay off staff. Many have tried to adapt, modifying their operations in such a way to keep going, whilst others have simply had to make the decision to close completely. It is essential that we all reach out where we can to those who need our support. We are all in this together.

The state government has put in place a stimulus package with more support flagged designed to support business activity in our community, and the packages of the federal government are designed to cushion the blow to businesses and individuals. Whilst of course these initiatives will have important and positive impacts in our community, there is no doubt that there will still be many people right across our state who will be hurting for some time to come.

I would like to thank those heroes in our community: the healthcare workers in our community, such as our doctors, nurses, paramedics and others on the front line; also, our senior public health officials who are guiding our state's response; those working in diagnostic laboratories; those working in research, making advances in potential new ways to treat and prevent the virus infection; our teachers, who continue to work in unprecedented and difficult circumstances. I would also like to commend those who work in our supermarkets and distribution networks and supply chains who continue to ensure we are able to continue to feed our community.

I would like to assure my community that, in these dark and uncertain times, I would not want to be anywhere else in the world right now than here in South Australia. We are as well placed as the best in the world to weather this storm. We are barely a few weeks into a situation that will likely last months, but I know that our community is strong and resilient and that, by working together and looking after each other, we will get to the other side of this crisis stronger than ever before.

At 15:51 the house adjourned until Wednesday 25 March 2020 at 10:30.