Tasmania records huge spike in Covid-19 cases
A small cruise ship and a music festival have been listed as exposure sites but the Premier has called for calm among the partygoers. LATEST >>
Tasmania
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A SMALL cruise ship and the Party in the Apocalypse event have been listed as exposure sites but Premier Peter Gutwein has called for calm, urging only those partygoers with symptoms to line up for a test.
Two passengers on the Coral Discoverer have tested positive and have disembarked from the vessel and are being interviewed by Public Health.
The vessel is in Hobart with no other passengers allowed to leave for now.
The 60 other passengers and 30 staff will be tested today.
Twenty-five people who attended the Party in the Apocalypse event on December 27 an 28 have now tested positive to the virus.
“This does not mean all the other party goers need to turn up for a PCR test. If you were at the event use common sense and if you have symptoms then act,” Mr Gutwein said.
Attendees have been sent messages Mr Gutwein said half of the 1691 people infected with Covid-19 in Tasmania are electing to just ride the illness out alone at home because they are asymptomatic or in relatively good health.
“The number not even using the Covid@home program while infected is rising and has now hit 50 per cent,” Mr Gutwein said.
“Hospital presentations are low with two in Tasmania in hospital with Covid but being treated for other medical conditions. Many in other states have Covid while in hospital but did not present at hospital for that reason.”
Tasmania recorded another 466 positive Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours to take the number of active cases in te State to almost 1700.
Four thousand RAT were distributed and 2000 lab tests conducted.
From later this week, Australia Post is expected to become a RAT test distributor.
It comes as more aged care homes go into lockdown due to staff member infections.
The Greens also said close contacts and symptomatic Tasmanians were being turned away from testing clinics and more and more businesses are deciding to close their doors in what was meant to be a peak trading period.
Two infected people are in hospital in Tasmania but none are in ICU.
The total of positive cases is now 1691 with 1950 tests carried out on Sunday.
Two aged care homes in Tasmania’s North West have gone into lockdown in the past 24 hours as St Anns in Hobart is open to visitors again after being closed because it was an exposure site last week.
On Sunday afternoon Respect Aged Care posted on social media that its West Ulverstone facility the Eliza Purton Home had been locked down due to an exposure at the weekend.
Then it announced Penguin home Coroneagh Park was locked down for the same reason, Respect Aged Care said it was a staff member at each site who had tested positive but neither had been working when symptomatic.
No residents have tested positive at this stage.
‘Covid not a 000 emergency’
Tasmania Police have urged the public to not contact them for Covid-19 advice.
It follows recent reports of strain on Tasmania’s Public Health hotline.
“Please don’t contact police for advice about COVID-19 testing – help us keep our emergency lines clear for emergencies,” a social media post from Tasmania Police said.
In response to what is fast becoming a national issue, Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked the public on Monday asked to reserve calling triple-0 in an emergency.
“Having some Covid symptoms is not a medical emergency,” he said.
Surging cases in New South Wales has led to record call-outs which have created critical delays for the state’s ambulance service, News Corp reported.
“We’re seeing priority one emergency cases across Sydney and NSW waiting for over an hour for an ambulance to even attend. That is simply unacceptable and untenable,” Australian Paramedics Association NSW delegate Brett Simpson said.
Tasmania records 404 new Covid cases – January 2
TASMANIA has recorded another 404 new Covid-19 cases but none of the three people in hospital with the virus are on a ventilator.
Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the current evidence continued to show that the Omicron strain, while highly transmissible, was much milder.
“While there are three people now in hospital with COVID-19, only one of those is due to COVID-19 itself, with the rest admitted to hospital due to unrelated conditions. No one is in the ICU nor is anyone being ventilated,” Mr Rockiff said.
Testing sites struggled to meet demand again on Sunday and some of those wanting to find out if they are negative or positive were turned away from the busy testing site at the Hobart Showgrounds.
The jump in cases takes the number of active cases in the State to 1219,
On New Year’s Day 120 were released from isolation following their recovery from the virus.
Mr Rockliff said more than 1500 tests were conducted on New Year’s Day with about 1200 already booked in for Sunday.
“We are seeing a good response to our message that PCR testing is for anyone with symptoms, symptomatic close contacts and anyone with a positive RAT test,” Mr Rockliff said.
On New Year’s Day, the government said rapid antigen tests were provided to people who may be at risk of either having or possibly being exposed to COVID-19.
They include those arriving in Tasmania who have been in high-risk areas or people who may be a close contact of a Covid case.
But there are reports from chemists and supermarkets that – like toilet paper in the first wave of the pandemic – kits are being snapped up and stocks are running out.
Sixty positive cases are being treated in Community Case Management Facilities.
Labor says the government needs to explain to Tasmanians what plan is in place to expand those facilities across the state if needed.
Mr Rockliff said the case numbers will continue to cause some community concern – which is completely understandable- it is not unexpected, and the reason we are now able to live with Covid is because of our highly vaccinated population.
“And as the Premier said yesterday, we are now at the height of summer which is the best possible time for us to open up and live with Covid in our community,” Mr Rockliff said.
“RAT tests remain available for asymptomatic close contacts or anyone directed to undertake a RAT test by the Department of Health. Please contact the Public Health Hotline if you cannot obtain a RAT test and we will direct you to a distribution point in the South, North and North West.
“We also continue to have appropriate safeguards in place to ensure we can continue to manage case numbers into the future, with density limits and gathering restrictions remaining in place, along with mandatory mask-wearing in most indoor settings.”
Premier backs reopening amid Covid surge – January 1
PREMIER Peter Gutwein says Tasmania will stay the course with its reopening strategy despite soaring record Covid-19 case numbers, saying it is the best possible time to be dealing with an outbreak of the Omicron variant.
The state reported 428 new cases of the virus on Saturday, the highest number ever, and triple the number of cases recorded the previous day.
There are now 938 known active cases of Covid-19 in Tasmania, but only two of them are in hospital and one of those is hospitalised for reasons other than Covid – none are in ICU.
Mr Gutwein argued the low hospitalisation rate and less severe nature of the Omicron strain resulting in more mild illnesses meant the state was well placed to deal with the outbreak.
“We are in the height of summer,’’ he said.
“If there were a good time to be dealing with a highly transmissible variant with much less severe disease, right now is it.”
But opposition parties have criticised the state government for its handling of the reopening, saying their plans have not worked.
Labor MP Dean Winter said such large case loads just two weeks after the border reopening, as well as the lesser focus on contact tracing, was not what Tasmanians signed up for.
“This is not what the Premier said would happen,’’ he said.
“This is not the plan that he sold to Tasmanians to reopen the border.”
Mr Winter said the government had 18 months to get prepared for Covid, but he argued there were holes in the plan.
“I think it’s extraordinary really that the Premier stands up and pretends as though everything is going to plan,’’ he said.
“Clearly the plans haven’t worked and we weren’t prepared.”
More than 85 per cent of the current active cases are in people aged under 50, with more than 60 per cent of them within the 20-39 age group.
Original modelling from the Kirby Institute for Tasmania’s border reopening was based on the more severe Delta variant of the virus, and Mr Gutwein said this modelling was being reviewed to reflect the Omicron strain.
Mr Gutwein said there had been an almost 50 per cent reduction in travel Tasmania since Covid-19 case numbers started to rise on the mainland.
“The border is self-regulating already to some degree,’’ he said in response to calls to close it.
Public Health Acting Director Dr Julie Graham said it was expected case numbers would increase in coming days and weeks.
“The vast majority of cases that we are seeing are experiencing mild symptoms or are asymptomatic and being picked up as contacts through their testing mechanism,’’ she said.
Dr Graham said it was now not possible to phone and interview every positive case, with the process now to be predominantly managed through text messages to positive cases.
From Saturday, positive cases can be released after seven days from the date of their positive test if they were no longer symptomatic, subject to approval from Public Health.
They should not visit high-risk settings and should wear a mask for the next seven days.
A Covid case has been reported in a Tasmanian childcare centre.
Goodstart at Blackmans Bay notified parents late on Friday night that a team member who attended the centre on Wednesday December 29 had worked from 7am to 11am but had displayed no symptoms while working.
“We are currently waiting on direction from Public Health but in the meantime will work through the contact tracing requirements,” a letter said.
“Anyone in the centre who is identified as a close contact will also be contacted directly by health authorities.
“We apologise if this causes any inconvenience, however the safety of our children, families, teams and the wider community is our highest priority.
“Please be assured the centre will be cleaned before reopening.”
A parent who contacted the Mercury said it was unclear which room the person had been working in at the centre.
“There are a lot of worried parents and others who think this is all too close for comfort,” he said.
“Hopefully it will be clearer in the coming days.”
Unions Tasmania secretary Jessica Munday said the Covid case in a childcare centre reinforced the need for free rapid antigen tests and a quicker roll out of boosters.
“It has taken just over a fortnight for Covid to take hold in Tasmania and we now have confirmed cases of Covid positive workers in two of our most vulnerable settings – aged care and early childhood education,” Ms Munday said.
“This increases the urgency for the Gutwein and Morrison Government’s to move fast on making rapid antigen tests free and accessible for all- (not just in the limited circumstances under their close contact definitions – and to prioritise boosters for our most vulnerable.”
More to come …
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