Torres elder’s Thursday Island Covid lockdown call
As mayors of two Far North indigenous communities ask the state’s chief health officer to impose travel restrictions over rising Covid cases on Thursday Island, a Torres Strait elder says lockdown should have been brought in already. HAVE YOUR SAY
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AS MAYORS of two Far North indigenous communities formally ask the state’s chief health officer to impose travel restrictions after Covid positive case numbers skyrocketed, a Torres Strait elder says lockdown should have been brought in already.
On Thursday, Torres Strait Island Regional Council Mayor Phillemon Mosby said he and Torres Shire Council Mayor Vonda Malone, met with key health and disaster management representatives to discuss implementing travel restrictions after local Covid cases numbers jumped from eight to 12 in under a day.
Mr Mosby said he hoped the Queensland chief health officer Dr John Gerrard, will grant permission before close of business on Friday.
“Things become very serious here very quickly,” Mr Mosby said.
“We are hoping the chief health officer, will get back to us by Friday which is New Year’s Eve.”
Mr Mosby said the wet weather had helped to stave off a lot of movement.
“The rain has worked in our favour as there has not been so much movement with flights, dinghy’s or on the ferries between islands,” he said.
“We are also talking to government departments and asking them to reconsider their travel plans and asking people to only travel for essential reasons, such as for health reasons or to attend court.”
Ms Malone said it is vital to prevent the flow of any non-essential travel.
“We need to discuss with the state government what can be exercised to slow down the spread of Covid across the Torres Strait,” she said.
“I am very concerned as TI is the gateway to the region.”
On Thursday Island, 76 per cent of the population aged 12 years and older is now fully vaccinated and 92 per cent have received one dose.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had previously said lockdowns would be imposed on communities with low vaccination rates, but health authorities declared residents in Cherbourg would not be ordered into home isolation despite only 57.9 per cent having received both jabs.
“We need to keep moving on, we need to move on because we are not going to stop the Omicron virus,” Dr Gerrard said on Thursday.
But he added lockdowns were not the “right thing for us as a government to be doing”, rather, “it will depend on what the local community wants to do but we do not want to impose lockdowns on communities.”
Across the Torres Strait as a whole, 75 per cent of the population aged 12 years and over is fully vaccinated with both doses and 90 per cent have had at least one dose.
Meanwhile, Mr Mosby said they had been informed by Torres Cape Hospital Health Service that “all close contact tests will be processed on Thursday Island and al the casual contact test will be processed in Cairns.”
“We are asking our people to stay home, stay safe and care for each other, ” he said.
Meanwhile, an Indigenous elder from the Torres Strait has called for a change in the region’s senior health leadership after Covid numbers on Thursday Island soar and predicted the community will be locked down as case numbers rise.
On Wednesday Badu Island Wakaid tribe elder Robert Sagigi, 63, spoke from Cairns Private Hospital about the news that eight people had tested positive for Covid.
Mr Sagigi who was visiting the city for specialist treatment said he was furious that the isolated community is at risk from the pandemic.
“I am very concerned about our people, many of them are very vulnerable,” Mr Sagigi said.
“I am in Cairns for specialist dialysis treatment and I will be going back tomorrow (Thursday) and I am expecting the number of positive cases to rise because there’s a lot of sick people there with chronic disease.”
Mr Sagigi accused Torres Cape Hospital Health Service of not moving fast enough to protect residents before the state borders were reopened.
Our local Indigenous nurses and health workers of Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Services (TCHHS) have been discriminated against and disallowed from vaccinating our people,” he said.
“They had to go to their union for help.”
“We should have all been fully vaccinated and given boosters much earlier,” he said.
“Now they are trying to rush the booster around, they are not doing their job properly.
“Travel to the Torres and Northern Peninsula Area should have been stopped until all our families have been vaccinated.”
According to Queensland Health, of Thursday Island’s eligible population of 2,271, 90 per cent have received their first dose and 76 per cent are fully vaccinated.
A TCHHS spokeswoman said four new cases of Covid-19 had been identified on Thursday Island.
“This brings to 12 the total number of cases so far identified on the island,” she said.
“However, we are awaiting results on a further 132 tests undertaken over the past 24 hours, so case numbers could increase.
“The individuals on Thursday Island are being managed at their homes with appropriate medical and nursing oversight and monitoring. No further details will be provided due to confidentiality.”
Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union, Secretary Beth Mohle said they have been supporting members and their vital vaccination work in the region.
“The Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union First Nations branch members have worked through the Torres Strait Islander Nurses Indigenous Corporation to do all they can to increase vaccination levels in the Cape and Torres areas,” she said.
“Our branch members continue to actively work in these communities.”
Earlier this year Mr Sagigi criticised Queensland Health decision to place a kidney transplant unit in Townsville, saying Indigenous communities in Cape York and the Torres Strait were being neglected by government “fat cats”.
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