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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-04-07 Daily Xml
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Viral Respiratory Disease Pandemic Response Plan

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (15:00): A supplementary arising from the answer about the VRDPR plan: in relation to what the plan says about public transport, are there certain triggers in this health plan that would see a partial closure of public transport, and are there further triggers that would see an entire closure of public transport?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:00): Let's be clear: this health department plan is about the health department's response to a pandemic. All parts of the South Australian government are responding to the pandemic within their own areas of responsibility. In terms of public transport, it reminds me of one of the earliest press conferences I was involved in in relation to the pandemic, which was in relation to the excellent work being done by the Hon. Stephan Knoll in relation to significantly ramping up the cleaning procedures within the bus network.

There has been a significant reduction in public transport usage as a result of the pandemic. A lot of South Australians are choosing to work from home. That has the secondary benefit of supporting the government's efforts towards social distancing. To be frank, when the bus is half empty, it's easier to maintain a 1.5-metre separation.

I suppose in a way I could use the bus as a metaphor for this government's strategy in relation to the coronavirus: first of all, basic personal hygiene. We are urging all South Australians to raise the bar in terms of their personal hygiene. That's what Stephan Knoll has done in introducing a much higher cleaning regime within the buses.

My understanding is, before the leadership of the Hon. Stephan Knoll, we had perhaps weekly cleaning of buses. Not only are we going to much more frequent end of shift cleans under minister Knoll, but there will also be cleaning within the day, cleaning which is particularly targeting the risks of coronavirus. The issue of people touching a handrail or the rail in front of them in the bus or a vertical pole is much more important than whether or not the window is clean.

The other aspect in which minister Knoll is providing leadership is, as I said, in social distancing. Maintaining the bus network, in spite of the fact of a significant drop-off in patronage, supports South Australians to continue to use public transport but to do so in a way which maintains social distancing.

I would like to take the opportunity, and I thank the honourable member for giving me the opportunity, to pay tribute yet again to the strong commitment of South Australians to back the public health advice. People are raising their standards of personal hygiene. They are maintaining social distancing. Even the honourable member himself, in terms of ushering perhaps the new member to her place, was diligent in upholding those principles, and this is important.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.G. WADE: This is saving lives. Members of the opposition might chuckle, but simple things save lives, and in a pandemic we are having a significantly better outcome because of measures such as that. In fact, the member might not chuckle so much when she sees the material coming out of the national cabinet, which talks about modelling, which talks about the significant impact social distancing has above and beyond isolation and quarantine. People might get excited about locking people up in quarantine and isolation, but what the modelling shows is it is grassroots community-wide compliance with measures such as social distancing which will be vital to a less negative outcome in the context of a pandemic.

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