ONE IN 10 MILLION CHANCE OF COVID-19 CASES FROM NON HOT SPOTS

Toughest border measures in the country, businesses in tatters, but deputy director of public health reveals there is just a ...

+ Has Premier offered to take in overseas travellers in exchange for international airport?

THE DECISIONS TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT ARE AFFECTING PEOPLE’S LIVES AND PEOPLE’S LIVELIHOODS … MANY BUSINESSES ARE ON THEIR KNEES.

REBECCA WHITE, LABOR LEADER

THERE is about a onein-10 million chance of a case of coronavirus being imported into Tasmania from places that are not virus hot spots, health officials have confirmed.

Deputy Director of Public Health Scott McKeown shocked political leaders when he revealed the figure at a private briefing on Monday.

The state government and the Health Department this week failed to answer questions about what the quantifiable risk to Tasmania was of a case being imported from COVID-safe jurisdictions.

When pressed on the issue at Friday’s live-streamed press conference, Public Health Director Mark Veitch said there was “no formal modelling” conducted by Public Health about the risk, but admitted the one-in-10 million figure was “probably around the mark”.

Dr Veitch said it was a metric that considered there were only minimal cases of coronavirus not linked to a known cluster, including outbreaks in Victoria and parts of Sydney and Brisbane.

“I think we know that the risk of coronavirus infection outside of these main hot spots is actually very low,” he said.

“What I also hope I’ve explained is there’s a range of other considerations.”

During the marathon press conference, Dr Veitch also said social media posts and talkback radio were being used to inform decisions based on perceptions of public fears about

the virus, but said further work was being done to quantify it.

Opposition Leader Rebecca White said the government needed to better explain its decisions about borders and other restrictions and “release all the public health advice it’s received”.

“The decisions taken by government are affecting people’s lives and people’s livelihoods. People are unable to see their families, including FIFO workers who live here, and many businesses are on their knees,’’ she said.

“Tasmanians will support decisions where they can see and understand the evidence the government has used to make those decisions.”

Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said tourism operators were entitled to know the risk assessments on borders opening to other COVID-safe states.

“To learn today that it’s something ‘like’ a onein-10 million chance of the virus re-entering Tasmania from those states is a hard pill to swallow,’’ he said.

“Also to learn that it is public anxiety that is driving much of this, we need to know what measures the government is putting in place to start to address these community concerns.”

Dr Veitch said he hoped restrictions could be eased as soon as it was safe, but said it was important people had trust and confidence in public health measures.

Premier Peter Gutwein said