‘SELFISH ATTITUDES’ RAISE CLUSTER RISK
HEALTH experts warn there’ll “absolutely” be community transmission of COVID-19 on the Gold Coast, and sooner rather than later, because of locals’ “selfish attitudes”.
It comes as clusters of the virus plague Victoria, with suggestions complacency is to blame.
Gold Coast Primary Health Network chairman Dr Roger Halliwell said complacency had already kicked in on the Gold Coast, with people ignoring basic hygiene and social distancing measures. He said a lack of testing was still a problem.
“What we are seeing, anecdotally from my GP colleagues, is that a significant number of parents are saying ‘it’s just a cold or runny nose, we don’t need to be testing our kids’,” he said.
“And that’s wrong. Anyone who says they don’t want to be tested and has symptoms must then stay in self-isolation for 14 days. Test, test, test, who doesn’t get a test? Everybody gets a test.
“This may mean someone with a child in daycare might have six or so tests in the winter, and while that might seem extreme, it might certainly save lives. In Victoria people got complacent and considered one’s own personal circumstances more important than the collective, and look what happened.”
Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young has previously said community transmission was to be expected across the state, but that early contact tracing was key in keeping in under control.
Dr Halliwell said people were too hung up on the low death rate of COVID19, yet US studies had shown that for every one person who died from the virus, 18 who survived had serious lifelong health complications.
“They’re thinking ‘oh I survived, isn’t that great’. Well, it might not be, for some survivors they face neurological damage, heart damage and an increased risk of strokes.”
Dr Halliwell said there was a significant risk to the community as a whole if everyone didn’t do the right thing – and not just health wise.
“They (Victorians) are looking down the barrel of lockdown for an extended period of time. It’s just six weeks at this stage, but it might even be more. People think they are special, that the rules don’t apply to them and this selfish attitude is going to make it worse for everybody.”