Kara Jung: We are at a Covid crossroads and now will be a true test of Steven Marshall’s leadership
We’ve followed the health advice. We’ve accepted restrictions. But now it’s time for the Premier to take the reins and show real leadership, writes Kara Jung.
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We will open for Christmas. Book those flights. Hold up! Scrap that, Christmas is cancelled. No it isn’t.
The conflicting messages between SA Health and the Premier had us all reeling yesterday at a time when we so desperately need strong, clear direction.
Just weeks from hitting our 80 per cent vaccination target, now will be a true test of leadership.
While other parts of the world are well into reopening and other states have released detailed reopening road maps, South Australians were scratching their heads after SA Health chief executive Dr Chris McGowan said it was “not our expectation” that there would be no need for fully vaccinated visitors to quarantine by Christmas.
But Premier Steven Marshall had said last week that “we will be lifting statewide border restrictions once we hit our 80 per cent vaccination target” and he was hopeful that “people coming back from interstate who are double-vaccinated and that haven’t been to exposure sites will be able to come back and enjoy a relatively normal Christmas in SA”.
Despite the mixed messages, the Premier today denied he and SA Health were in conflict and insisted “for a vast majority of people it’s going to be a ... very normal Christmas and people who are double-vaccinated will be able to come in”.
Confused yet?
SA Health’s mandate is to focus on the pandemic from a health system perspective. But that fails to take into account the various and multiple other factors that affect the wellbeing of a community and our state.
Strategies like quarantine and border controls that are necessary to minimise viral spread are now having a huge negative psychological impact, such as causing post-traumatic stress symptoms, anxiety and depression, not to mention the financial struggles.
And while these factors might not be in the SA Health mandate, it is squarely in the Premier’s. And yesterday’s argy-bargy will trigger a real test of his leadership.
We know we can’t eradicate Covid and that the conversation must turn now to how we cope with letting the virus in.
A huge part of that must, of course, focus on how our hospitals and other healthcare platforms will cope. But it must also take into account those other factors – financial, mental health, family connection, freedom.
SA might be in for a shock when Covid comes, but it’s coming. We have been largely Covid-free and enjoyed many more freedoms than our interstate counterparts because of it. Following the health advice has thus far served us well.
But the tide is turning. People have turned their heads and stuck out their arms, anticipating an opening once we hit that coveted 80 per cent vaccination rate, likely on December 3. People want a plan and the confidence to step back out into the world.
It’s now time South Australians saw a detailed road map – not vague platitudes.
It’s time Mr Marshall tells us his plan and to detail if it is to strictly follow the health advice – or if he will address those other essential factors of community wellbeing.
We deserve to know if we’re getting the Christmas present we’ve all been promised. And more specifically, what that will look like for all South Australians.
Originally published as Kara Jung: We are at a Covid crossroads and now will be a true test of Steven Marshall’s leadership
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