What went wrong? Experts from politicians to unions offer their views
Key leaders have offered insight into the state’s “potent wake-up call” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, specifically the deadly outbreak in Tasmania’s north-west.
Coronavirus
Don't miss out on the headlines from Coronavirus. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AN INSIDIOUS invader given free rein to roam a hospital, hold a community hostage and leave a dozen families devastated has revealed the gaping holes in what was meant to be a fortress.
To date, Tasmania is leading the nation with the highest rates of coronavirus infections per 100,000 people after Australia’s worst outbreak unfurled in the state’s north-west hospital system.
READ MORE:
TASMANIA WILL NOT BE LET OFF RESTRICTIONS
NEW CLUSTER CAUSES HEADACHES IN CIRCULAR HEAD
HOTEL PLAN TO BE EXAMINED AT TASMANIA’S PLANNING TRIBUNAL
CHIEF JUSTICE THROW LAUGHING MAGISTRATE CASE OUT OF COURT
As experts scramble to work out what caused the crisis and politicians juggle the needs of an island in both social and economic lockdown, key leaders have offered insight into the state’s “potent wake-up call”.
CATCHING SOMETHING FROM A LOCAL
The picturesque seaside town of Burnie has changed vastly since its days as a polluted industrial port with coastlines stained rust-red by toxic effluent.
In recent years, the city has basked in the economic sunshine as a port stop for cruise ships, with Mayor Steve Kons meeting and greeting each arrival with his band of volunteers.
On March 10, about a week after Tasmania recorded its first COVID-19 case, a wave of concern flowed through social media about possible risks posed by a host of cruise ships docking in Burnie.
The city was welcoming more vessels than usual that week as coronavirus shuffled itineraries away from Asian ports.
But Cr Kons dismissed the outcry as “unwarranted panic”, urging calm while jesting he was more worried about catching a disease from a local than a cruise ship passenger.
Exactly 10 days later, a passenger from the ill-fated Ruby Princess was admitted to Burnie’s North West Regional Hospital.
IT’S NOT OVER
The virus is a test of Tasmania’s systems and has unmasked their inadequacies, says the Australian Medical Association’s state president.
John Burgess also warned the state was now at a critical point, with the danger of a second wave “catastrophe” looming large.
“This virus will be waiting to pounce on us again until we get a vaccine,” he said.
“There will probably be multiple waves. As we work through the first wave of this pandemic, we can’t get complacent.”
Prof Burgess said despite the appearance of “things quietening down” as infections stabilise and restrictions ease, the pandemic could run through the state’s systems for another 18 months.
NO MATTER OF BAD LUCK
Last week, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy described the north-west situation as a case of “bad luck” and a “precautionary tale” about how infectious the virus was.
A few days ago, Premier Peter Gutwein put the outbreak down to “a very unfortunate set of circumstances”, claiming the exact cause might never be identified.
But Prof Burgess said that was “not acceptable at all”.
“To just let this pass does not do any justice to the people who have passed,” he said.
“We should consider this catastrophe in the north-west to be a preventable event.
“It absolutely came from somewhere … and it found a really clear run for some reason through the north-west health system.”
He called for an independent parliamentary inquiry with “teeth” that would hear “frank and fearless evidence”, especially from public servants with jobs to protect.
“It’s like an airline accident – these things need to be properly investigated and treated as preventable events,” he said.
“We have to learn very quickly and very deeply about what happened to ensure it never happens again.”
THE RUMOUR MILL
The mere thought of it sparks outrage – a group of doctors, nurses and orderlies clinking glasses and scoffing hors d’oeuvres, while the rest of Tasmania does what it’s told.
The picture gets worse. While thumbing their noses at rules designed to protect the very community they serve, the dinner party-goers infect one other before spreading the disease en-masse to staff and patients.
But of course, it wasn’t true.
The gossip was bad enough as it spread through the north-west community, but reached damaging proportions when the nation’s chief medical officer took the rumour abroad to New Zealand.
Emily Shepherd, Tasmania’s branch secretary for the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, said the rumours were “incredibly damaging” to workers when they were at their most vulnerable.
“It made our members feel vilified by the Tasmanian community and also by the government following Dr Brendan Murphy’s comments,” she said
“These were nurses and midwives who were putting themselves and their families safety on the line every day to support their patients and their communities.”
SUPPLY AND OPINION
“The handling of the whole situation has been appalling,” the Health and Community Services Union’s assistant state secretary says.
Questioning why the government hadn’t released any findings into the outbreak earlier, Robbie Moore also criticised a lack of support and guidance for health care workers.
He said some of his members had been advised by management not to wear PPE but declined to follow those “totally unsafe” practices.
“Workers shouldn’t have to be telling managers what is the appropriate procedure,” he said.
“I think people have personal opinions, people have different views in relation to this. There was concern about the shortage of PPE and there were pressures on managers that led to extreme rationing.”
He questioned why resources and PPE had been in such short supply given governments worldwide knew a flu pandemic was long overdue.
WHAT MAKES BURNIE DIFFERENT
Burnie, like most country areas of Australia, relies on hospital locums and transient healthcare workers – a factor that can destabilise lines of industry communication, culture and work practices.
The city is a regional centre and is located within one of the poorest electorates in the country – two well-documented risk factors for poorer public health outcomes.
But Rosalie Woodruff, Greens MP and epidemiologist, said if the same mechanisms were put into place at the North West Regional Hospital and its nearby private hospital as elsewhere, the hotspot shouldn’t have grown to the size it did.
She said questions needed to be asked about why the mechanisms being put into place now weren’t employed months ago.
“We’ve had a chronically-underfunded health system, full stop,” Dr Woodruff said.
“Long-term under-resourcing of the health system in Tasmania would have had an effect on the capacity for high-quality training and support for staff, as would the movement of staff and locums.”
A HOT HOSPITAL
Dr Woodruff also raised concerns about the hospital re-opening this week and the region’s easing of restrictions, noting a developing COVID-19 cluster at Smithton.
She questioned why only the emergency ward was operating as a “hot” ward, with all patients presumed to be infectious, rather than the entire hospital.
She said given military personnel were brought in to disinfect the facility, with thousands of staff and patients placed under quarantine, it would be “cavalier” to have hot and cold parts of the hospital until the virus had cleared.
WHEN DISASTER HITS HOME
The Port Arthur massacre was a rude awakening for the residents of a peaceful island accustomed to living light years away from natural tragedy and mass violence.
Likewise, north-west coast residents would have never believed their region would make national headlines for a disease strike that until then was an overseas problem for countries like China, Iran, Italy and Spain.
Burnie’s mayor now spends his days managing an isolated, coastal city that’s been “jolted” by a shock outbreak and economic lockdown, wondering how his community’s confidence will be rebuilt once it’s all over.
“The learnings you naturally take away from it are that although we’re in an isolated place, things can happen here as anywhere else in the world,” Cr Kons said.
“We have a comfortable standard of living here in this country and precautionary measures are taken, so these sort of things – you just don’t expect.”
“It gives a level of complacency because we always think we’re on top of things.”
Experts push for double shot as new Covid wave looms
As deaths from Covid continue, Tasmanians are being urged to get boosters and flu shots with doctors saying infection rates are “taking off and complacency is setting in”. LATEST FIGURES >>
Covid-safety urged as daily case numbers decline
The pace of Tasmania’s winter Covid wave is slowing but the public is urged to remain vigilant. LATEST FIGURES >>