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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-03-03 Daily Xml
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Coronavirus

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:27): Supplementary arising from the answer: will the minister consider following Queensland's lead and ensure that operating theatres work across weekends so that elective surgery waiting lists are not too impacted by a potential coronavirus outbreak?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:27): I'm certainly happy to look at what other states are doing. As I said, the dialogue that is happening within the AHPCC is very valuable. There are quite different responses in different states. Perhaps this supplementary gives me the opportunity to do a bit more bragging for South Australia.

South Australia was very innovative in its SA Pathology response, in spite of the political games that were played by the Labor Party in last week's parliamentary committee. SA Pathology has been leading the nation in its testing regime. We are the only state in Australia where every person who presents for a respiratory virus test also has that sample tested for coronavirus. In terms of preparedness, I think that is an excellent initiative, because if you only test the people who present with the symptoms, you can't see the underlying level of viral load which is yet to present as symptoms.

One of the disturbing aspects of the coronavirus is the potential for it to be transmitted before the person themselves becomes symptomatic, so the work of SA Pathology has been extraordinary. A member in the other place criticised them for not having in place the regime to test. I would just like to remind those opposite that you actually can't test for a disease you don't know exists. Within weeks of the pathology being made available through the Victorian service, SA Pathology not only established that service but in the weeks following that developed a testing regime which meant that they could test every person with a respiratory condition.

My recollection is that they are currently doing about 250 tests per day. My understanding is that the proactive testing of the coronavirus samples has led to more than 2,700 samples being tested for coronavirus. In my discussions with medical personnel, that may well be one-third of Australia's national testing.

Yet again, I would commend Dr Tom Dodd and the SA Pathology team and Associate Professor Nicola Spurrier with Dr Chris Lease and other members of her team. They have worked tirelessly, and they have every right to be tired. They have worked very hard in the weeks past, knowing full well that this is likely to be a marathon, not a sprint. This is going to be a troubling time. They have put us in very good stead, and I would urge South Australians to heed the messages that Dr Spurrier and her team are broadcasting.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter: A supplementary.

The PRESIDENT: A supplementary question arising from the original answer.

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