Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-07-23 Daily Xml

Contents

Coronavirus, Health Advice

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:54): I think it may well fit in. My question to the minister is in relation to COVID-19. From compliance checks that have been done by SA Health and other agencies like SAPOL, does he have any figures or is he aware of people meant to be isolating who are missing or not at the addresses where they were required to quarantine, and are there people who have provided false information?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:55): I am sure that's correct, that there would have been people who provided false information. What is becoming evident is there is quite a different level of compliance in different states and territories. I have seen some information that in other jurisdictions noncompliance with isolation requirements can be as high as 30 per cent, but the latest information I have seen from SA Police is that, in relation to compliance checks on individuals, compliance continues to be, and has been right through the pandemic, higher than 90 per cent.

I think the police commissioner has also made the point that often noncompliance isn't indicative of a lack of willingness to comply but an ignorance of complying, and that may be part of the reason for the 30 per cent as well. I happened to be listening to a news report this morning where a particular gentleman was interviewed and was making the point that he wasn't aware of the expectations of isolation. This gentleman happened to live in Victoria.

So we as health professionals—I am not a health professional; what I mean is we who have responsibility for health service delivery—need to make sure that people have the information so that they know what they are expected to do and we provide support where they need it but also, to be frank, compliance checking if they need to be reminded.