Australian Medical Association raises concerns over growing COVID complacency in Tasmania

Tasmania’s medical experts are concerned with growing complacency around social distancing in the community, as thousands of issues with Public Health direction are reported.

• Testing is key in Tasmania’s COVID fight
• Workers cannot return to pre-COVID conditions

TASMANIA’S peak medical body is concerned over growing complacency throughout the community.

This comes as Tasmania Police has received more than 7000 reports of issues with Public Health direction compliance since March.

GP and Australian Medical Association Tasmania spokeswoman, Dr Jenny Misson, said she had begun experiencing push back from patients who were advised to get a coronavirus test.

Phone consultations were also on the decline, she said.

“Early on in April and May were doing a vast majority of phone consultations. People wanted to be socially distant,” Dr Misson said.

“Now we’re getting a bit of push back against telehealth, which is difficult to navigate.”

She noted some unwell Tasmanians were also making the conscious choice to move throughout the community instead of isolating, putting others at risk.

“People say, ‘I was tested and it was negative so I went back to work’,” she said.

“Now you’ve spread it to the people you work with, who will now be frustrated because they’ll need to get a coronavirus test,” she said.

Doctor Jennifer Misson who is a general practitioner in Hobart in relation to Coronavirus. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

With complacency concerns growing, Dr Misson warned coronavirus was often silent within communities for the first few weeks.

“By the time we discover there is coronavirus in the community again, it’s sort of a two week lag time,” she said.

“People are still kissing, shaking hands, hugging, gathering in large groups, when it’s silently spreading in the community.”

She urged Tasmanians to continue to get tested, stay home when sick, and to follow Public Health guidelines.

“Hopefully it’s just a few months more – if we don’t follow the rules, it’ll be years more.”

Coronavirus testing is on par with pervious months, a Public Health spokesman said, with on average 530 tests completed each day in September.

On May 27, when mobile testing clinics were still in place, 715 tests were processed across the state.

WorkSafe Tasmania has been visiting businesses across the state to check they are complying with COVID regulations, with close to 2800 inspections conducted between May 8 and September 11.

A Department of Justice spokesperson said 19 notices for COVID-related contraventions of the Work Health and Safety Act and regulations had been issues, alongside one prohibition notice.

Tasmania Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Tony Cerritelli said police conducted more than 30,000 quarantine checks statewide, and a total of 344 people have been summonsed or charged for noncompliance since March 25.

Police have also managed 7234 reports about people failing to comply with the directions of the Public Health director, he said.

“Keeping the Tasmanian community safe from the threat of COVID-19 is a shared responsibility and the vast majority of people are doing the right thing,” he said.

Tasmanians with cold or flu-like symptoms are still urged to be tested for the virus by contacting the Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738.

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