Experts fear Australians are slipping back to pre-covid habits
Health authorities fear Australians are already relaxing social distancing measures beyond what is appropriate as they look to the private sector to help avoid further mass Covid-19 outbreaks.
As states begin to slowly reopen the economy, including restaurants and cafes in the coming days, a meeting of the nation’s top health experts this week expressed concerned too many people would now disregard their coronavirus messages.
The National Covid-19 Coordination Commission is working with shopping centre management groups to plan for the return of shoppers as more and more Australians begin to venture out of their homes and return to visiting stores.
Extensive minutes of Monday’s Australian Health Protection Principal Committee meeting, seen by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, details concerns from chief health officers that people will relax social distances measures, such as staying 1.5 metres away from one another.
‘‘What can we do to increase physical distances – people are relaxing beyond what is appropriate even though retailers are trying hard,’’ they say.
‘‘Have to keep messaging that personal responsibility is key, shopping centre management work is really important.’’
The committee will also make recommendations on public transport in a report to be presented to national Cabinet tomorrow.
Monday’s meeting, chaired by Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy, was also extensively briefed about the National Rugby League’s bid to return to competition by the end of the month.
It was told 93 players and team staff had been tested for Covid-19 symptoms, with all rugby league, rugby union and Australian Football League players to have flu injections before their seasons resume unless they obtain medical exemptions. The meeting was told the scandal surrounding AFL club Adelaide’s breach of isolation rules in the Barossa Valley last week showed the league ‘‘don’t understand quarantine’’.
Minutes of the meeting also noted states have begun testing people for the virus before they are released from the 14-day quarantine period following ‘‘continuing incidence of people who leave . . . and then test positive.’’
The Age and The Herald revealed yesterday that the meeting also discussed seeking urgent medical research into a mysterious Covid-19-linked illness suspected to have caused the death of at least three children in the United States.
Professor Murphy has asked Australia’s leading paediatric experts for a report on Kawasaki disease, which is the closest known illness to that which has developed in almost 100 children in the US, including newborns and teenagers, in the past two months. – Nine