GP warns ‘selfish attitude’ of Gold Coasters may hasten arrival of COVID cluster

A prominent GP says a COVID-19 outbreak is inevitable on the Gold Coast because of a big mistake being made by “selfish” locals.

HEALTH experts warn there’ll “absolutely” be community transmission of COVID-19 on the Gold Coast, and sooner rather than later, because of the “selfish attitudes” of locals.

It comes as clusters of the potentially deadly virus plague Victoria following suggestions that complacency is to blame for the outbreaks and after the state’s premier warns Stage 4 restrictions may be reintroduced if people don’t stop breaking the rules.

Gold Coast Primary Health Network chairman Dr Roger Halliwell said complacency had already kicked in on the Gold Coast, with people ignoring basic hygiene and social distancing measures. He said a lack of testing was still a problem.

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Gold Coast parents are being told to ensure kids with even the slightest COVID-19 symptom must get tested. Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

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“What we are seeing, anecdotally from my GP colleagues, is that a significant number of parents are saying ‘it’s just a cold or runny nose we don’t need to be testing our kids’,” he said.

“And that’s wrong. Anyone who says they don’t want to be tested and has symptoms must then stay in self-isolation for 14 days.

“Test, test, test, who doesn’t get a test? Everybody gets a test.

“This may mean someone with a child in daycare might have six or so tests in the winter months, and while that might seem extreme, it might certainly save lives.

“In Victoria people got complacent and considered one’s own personal circumstances more important than the collective, and look what happened.”

Free testing is available at the Burleigh Cove Respiratory Clinic, pictured is registered nurse Angel Anderson in her PPE at the centre. Picture Glenn Hampson

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Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young has previously said community transmission was to be expected across the state, but that early contact tracing was key in keeping it under control.

Dr Halliwell said people were too hung up on the low death rate of COVID-19, yet US studies had shown that for every one person who died from the virus, 18 who survived had serious lifelong health complications.

“They’re thinking ‘oh I survived isn’t that great’. Well, it might not be, for some survivors they face a life with neurological damage, heart damage and an increased risk of strokes.”

Respiratory therapist Juan Pablo Sanchez treats a patient infected with COVID-19 at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the CES Clinic in Medellin, Colombia in July. Photo: AFP.

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Dr Halliwell said there was a significant risk to the community as a whole if everyone didn’t do the right thing, not just health wise, but in regards to further shutdowns.

“They (Victorians) are looking down the barrel of lockdown for an extended period of time. It’s just six weeks at this stage, but it might even be more.

“People think they are special, that the rules don’t apply to them for some reason and this selfish attitude is going to make it worse for everybody.”