Coronavirus

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (15:20): Supplementary regarding testing: what's the maximum acceptable time between someone being tested and that person getting the results back?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:20): I thank the honourable member for her question, because I suspect there is no maximum time, but it does give me the opportunity to highlight the benefits yet again of point-of-care testing. The reason why I say that is because my understanding is that South Australians who are resident on the APY lands can wait days for pathology results and COVID-19 results in particular. That's why we welcome the commonwealth initiative to establish point-of-care testing in remote communities.

I am advised that the commonwealth is facilitating two point-of-care testing sites—let's just say at least two—on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands. To have the capacity on the lands to test people who may be possible carriers of COVID-19 is particularly important. The health infrastructure on the lands is not at a high level. It is primarily a primary healthcare network provided by Nganampa Health Council. It of course would be a challenge to respond to COVID-19 on the lands. It brings me back to the comment I made earlier about the health ministers' conference earlier this year, when there were four particular risk groups that were highlighted; one of those was people in remote communities.