Premier in favour of retesting positive coronavirus cases in Tasmania

Premier Peter Gutwein thinks retesting positive coronavirus cases in Tasmania “seems like something that should occur or could occur” — but Public Health officials disagree.

PREMIER Peter Gutwein admits he has had “vigorous debate” with health officials about the merits of retesting positive coronavirus cases in Tasmania to clear them of the deadly disease.

Mr Gutwein indicated on Tuesday he was in favour of the concept — but said Public Health advice was that it did not need to occur.

It comes after calls from opposition parties to introduce mandatory tests of all coronavirus-positive patients to ensure they were free of the virus before they were allowed out of isolation.

Premier Peter Gutwein speaks at the daily COVID-19 government update. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

It also followed revelations from a Blackmans Bay couple who travelled on a cruise ship that they had retested positive to COVID-19 after recovering, being cleared and then falling ill again.

“There has been vigorous debate on this. and I don’t mind saying that I have questioned Public Health extensively in regards to this, but their position I think is sound,’’ Mr Gutwein said.

“I think, on face value, it seems like something that should occur or could occur, but the Public Health arguments are quite firm.

“Obviously guidelines change over time, but at the moment Public Health’s view is that it should not occur.”

Under national guidelines, only workers in health and aged care are required to be retested before coming out of isolation.

This cohort of people need to have two consecutive negative tests 24 hours apart before they can be cleared.

Director of Public Health Mark Veitch said people with viral infections were most infectious around the time they first became unwell.

“We know that for many infections, you can actually pick up evidence of viral particles or viral RNA or DNA if you test those people after they’ve recovered,’’ he said.

“Being able to find it doesn’t mean that they’re infectious to other people.”

Director of Public Health Dr Mark Veitch. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Dr Veitch said current guidelines about the management of coronavirus was to allow 10 days to pass from the onset of the illness and a further three days of no symptoms before people were released into the community.

He said it was not recommended to re-test people to clear them of their illness, but people who worked in health or aged care settings were as a precaution because of the nature of their roles and the close contact with people.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney said the state had increased testing and would not hesitate to ramp up testing if national guidelines changed.

“We won’t hesitate to take any other measures that we think are appropriate, we want to see coronavirus transmission and spread in Tasmania stopped,’’ she said.

“So we will do every mechanism we can to help let than happen and if that is increased guidelines of testing then we will take that on board.”

Labor and the Greens said Tasmania should use its increased testing capacity to screen all patients again before they were released from isolation.

Greens MP and epidemiologist Rosalie Woodruff said the re-testing of recovered health workers implies some transmission risk was still possible.

“That risk may be small, but the consequences of a person transmitting coronavirus to someone else could be significant,’’ she said.

“We need to do everything possible to break the chain of coronavirus transmission.”

Dr Woodruff said the state had the capacity to test all recovering patients.

“The Tasmanian Government moved before other states, ahead of national health guidelines, on border controls — we should do the same on testing. If it captured just one more person who remained infectious, it would be worth it,’’ she said.