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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-06-18 Daily Xml
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Coronavirus, Health Initiatives

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:41): My question is directed to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing about public health. Will the minister update the council on public health protection measures during the COVID-19 pandemic?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:41): I thank the honourable member for her question. South Australia has been successful in combating the COVID-19 pandemic so far.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Minister, please. Minister for Health and Wellbeing, continue. The Hon. Mr Hunter, don't interrupt. Minister for Health and Wellbeing.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: We have no active cases and we have not seen our health system overwhelmed, as happened in other parts of the world. As the Chief Public Health Officer—

The Hon. C.M. Scriven interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister, continue.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I would hope the council would appreciate how important the COVID-19 pandemic is. As the Chief Public Health Officer, Nicola Spurrier, reminded South Australians yesterday, the virus is still out there in other jurisdictions and in other countries. We cannot be complacent in our practice of the basic protections against the virus, particularly physical distancing and personal hygiene.

To reinforce this message, SA Health last weekend at the Showdown launched a new campaign called, 'There's no room for complacency'. The campaign emphasises the importance of physical distancing through images of South Australians in various locations. As they stand apart from each other, practising physical distancing, the gap between them is highlighted with the phrase, 'There's no room for complacency'.

The campaign features images at bus stops and shopping centres as well as spots on TV, radio and digital media. The message of the campaign is particularly important at the moment as we go through the careful process of reopening our society and our economy. We know that we will get more cases. We have to accept that, but we are in a very different position today to where we were back on 1 February when we had our first cases.

South Australia has come through the first wave of the pandemic well. We are learning from that experience and through the experiences of other jurisdictions and countries. We have demonstrated that we have world-class testing, we have expanded our team of contact tracers and we have seen that we can respond quickly and effectively to cases.

Importantly, we have learnt to practise physical distancing as we have learnt the importance of basic personal hygiene measures, such as hand sanitisers. We will get more cases, but if we maintain our vigilance and do not become complacent, we can ensure that any future outbreaks can be contained. There is no room for complacency.

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