Social distancing gives way as South Aussies relax over virus
South Aussies are getting up close and personal again as fears of coronavirus fade but that’s got health officials warning it’s still too early to declare the job done.
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South Australians are becoming less vigilant about following coronavirus advice because they believe there is a low risk of infection, an SA Health survey has found.
Two-thirds of those surveyed believed the virus had nearly gone or disappeared from the state, while those very worried about the pandemic from almost half in late March to 28 per cent.
The newly released study, conducted by research firm Haymakr, interviewed 406 people between 18 and 74 across the state a fortnight ago,
It found “people not practising social distancing is the key worry”, though respondents were “less concerned” about contracting the virus.
“Despite the optimistic position they have on their minds, the majority of people are still worried about coronavirus, though less so than they were two months ago,” researchers concluded.
“To date, the community has responded well to imposed restrictions and public health advice.
“However (the) research shows that South Australians are becoming less vigilant and less likely to follow advice around COVID-19, possibly due to a perceived low risk within the state.”
Despite repeated warnings that downloading the COVIDSafe virus-tracking app was key to lifting restrictions, a third of respondents said they “don’t see it as important”.
Separate SA Health research suggests hundreds of thousands of people have yet to access the phone app.
As the state hit 18 days of zero COVID-19 daily cases, SA Health launched a new “stop the complacency” advertisement to urge people to download the app.
Chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier, to whom 81 per cent of respondents said they listened, also urged warned people to keep adhering to medical advice.
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The survey found the issues people most wanted to know about were restrictions easing and borders. The Government on Friday announced a raft of restrictions would be eased, and the state’s borders would reopen next month after numerous days of low or no cases and high testing levels.
A Wellbeing SA survey last month found more than half of respondents had not downloaded the COVIDSafe app, which health officials say boosts contact tracing.
Nationally, 6.2 million have downloaded it, representing a quarter of Australians.
SA Health’s Communicable Disease Control Branch director Dr Louise Flood urged people to download the app, which would be used to identify close contacts in any new outbreak.
“By downloading the app, you are helping to protect yourself, your family, and your community,” she said.
“The more people who download and use the app, the more effective it will be.”
There are strict protections on users’ information and privacy, while only select public health officers, nurses and doctors can access any data.
Anyone wrongly accessing it faces criminal charges.
SA Health has yet to use the app as the two local cases to emerge since it was launched were from overseas and did not have it. They were a British migrant in his 70s and a woman from the United Kingdom allowed into SA to visit her dying father.