Tasmania’s hospital system was ‘underprepared’ for COVID-19 pandemic, says Labor leader

Rebecca White says Tasmania’s hospitals were not properly prepared or resourced to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, pointing out that the “military had to be called in”.

THE report into a COVID-19 outbreak in the state’s North-West revealed a hospital system that was underprepared and under-resourced, Labor leader Rebecca White says.

In state parliament on Thursday morning, Ms White asked the Premier why the hospitals in the region were not ready to deal with the pandemic despite having ample advance notice.

Twelve people have died in Tasmania due to coronavirus — 11 of them in the North-West.

Ms White said the report identified failures in infection control and in the movement of patients and staff that had not occurred elsewhere.

“We were the only state where two hospitals were shut and the military had to be called in,” she said.

Labor leader Rebecca White in state parliament on Thursday. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

But Peter Gutwein said he rejected the premise of Ms White’s question.

“I don’t accept your assertion that steps weren’t taken, that we weren’t prepared,” he said.

“In terms of the health system, I reject that it wasn’t resourced or was not ready.”

He said the report revealed that the primary source of the outbreak was passengers from the Ruby Princess cruise liner, which docked in Sydney on March 19.

“I would ask members to resist the opportunity to apportion blame to anybody,” he said.

“The salient message from this is that regardless of what workplace you are in this insidious disease needs to be treated with the highest degree of caution.”

Premier Peter Gutwein in state parliament on Thursday. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

The Premier said the report showed that all necessary steps were taken in advance of the outbreak.

He described the outbreak as “a very unfortunate set of circumstances.”

“We are not the first place in the world that has had an outbreak in a hospital and we will not be the last.”

Mr Gutwein said the important thing was that nobody was blamed for an outbreak in which the exact cause might never be identified.

Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said Border Force had failed to prevent passengers disembarking from the Ruby Princess.

She urged the Premier to take the matter up with Federal Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton