Health authorities need to get serious about coronavirus response

The response from our health authorities to the first local case of the deadly coronavirus has been lacklustre to say the least. It’s time to get serious.

The response from our health authorities to the first local case of the deadly coronavirus has been lacklustre to say the least. It’s time to get serious.

• Darwin shops, hotel on alert after positive coronavirus test

THE coronavirus outbreak is deadly serious.

Its mortality rate is now estimated to be 3.4 per cent.

If it takes hold in the Territory, our vulnerable populations could be at serious risk. If the virus makes its way to indigenous communities, which tragically have vast numbers of very sick people, the consequences could be dire.

But it appears the response from our health authorities has been lacklustre to say the least.

Our health professionals are among the best in the world. AUSMAT and the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre did a fantastic job treating and containing the evacuees from the Diamond Princess.

But there are some serious concerns about the way local authorities have handled the first local case of the virus.

The hotel where the infected man stayed wasn’t told they had hosted a guest with coronavirus until it hit the media. The hotel’s management is justifiably angry they were left in the dark with no information to give their other guests. In situations such as this, panic will fill a vacuum left by a lack of information.

And the communication between the Centre for Disease Control and local GP clinics appears to be lacking.

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As Stuart Park Surgery principal David Welch says: “this is a national and a global emergency; it’s not something for a GP clinic in Darwin to deal with.”

Sending someone who could be infected with this lethal disease into a clinic waiting room filled with sick people seems insane.

It’s time to get serious.