STEVE PRICE:
We might try and clear this up. Dr David Gillespie is the Minister for Regional Health. He's been listening to that. Thanks for your time, Minister.
MINISTER GILLESPIE:
Good to be with you, Steve.
STEVE PRICE:
What is the regulation if you come from regional Sydney, outside the red zone, into the red zone and leave again? What do you have to do when you get home?
MINISTER GILLESPIE:
Well, you'd have to isolate. Every state has different rules, but you'd have to get yourself…
STEVE PRICE:
[Talks over] That's the hard part.
MINISTER GILLESPIE:
…get yourself tested and isolate. Not just stay at home orders, you'd have to isolate.
And look, every day, we cross-check regulations. I come from that area, just north of Bonny Hills, and when I come down to ACT, I must follow ACT guidelines, which is slightly different from New South Wales.
So, people have just got to be aware. Go online, check what the regulations are, but if you've been down in Sydney and you're coming back, you should be self-isolating, get a COVID test when you arrive and get one at the end to prove that you're still negative.
STEVE PRICE:
So, do you have to isolate until you get a result, or do you have to isolate for 14 days?
MINISTER GILLESPIE:
My understanding is it's 14 days, but like I said, all these regulations shift. And unless the New South Wales Health authority give you a different advice, that's what I would do.
STEVE PRICE:
Our big fear all along is that the Delta strain of COVID, and Natarsha Belling, who's very mindful of what's going on in the regions, makes this point regularly that - and in your role as Minister for Regional Health, you'd be aware of it - the medical services in regional Australia would not be able to cope if they got overrun by COVID.
We've now got outbreaks in Dubbo. Dubbo, it would appear, will go into a one-week lockdown from 11 o'clock- will be announced at 11 o'clock today and it'll go into one-week lockdown. Armidale and Tamworth are already locked down, as are all the Northern Rivers in New South Wales. Is this starting to concern you from a wider look at how the regional health systems would be able to cope with this?
MINISTER GILLESPIE:
Look, it is, Steve. Having practiced medicine myself for 33 years before I came into being a parliamentarian, I realised the significance of these seeding events into regional Australia.
You know, the temporary sharp lockdown and community testing is the way to see if it's escaped from someone who's just travelled through the region or someone who has seeded it to many other people.
And unfortunately, the prevention strategy is still going to be a feature of life by… you know, test, tracing, isolating, and quarantining will be a feature till we get a big enough portion of the community that have had their vaccinations. So that's why it's so important. And in the meantime, practice all those public health measures: social distancing, washing your hands. If you have got any illness, go and get yourself tested.
And it can't come soon enough but people are rolling up their arms and turning up and the rollout of the vaccines is ramping up. It's great that we've got more than 3.7 million doses of vaccines into regional arms already. And we have brought forward the rollout through the community pharmacies, both me and the Member for Cowper, Pat Conaghan, and Barnaby Joyce.
We all argued to bring them in sooner, so they're a month ahead of where they are. And when the Moderna vaccine arrives, which is like Pfizer, it's a messenger RNA, that will be ramped up across community pharmacy. Plenty of them have been enlisted already.
I know Plunkett's have been nominated, one's in Coffs Harbour have been nominated and there are many more over the coming weeks who'll be nominated as distribution sites, let alone all the state distribution hubs and sites and GPs.
STEVE PRICE:
How much of a pest have you been making yourself knocking on Greg Hunt's door, making sure there's plenty of vaccine out in the regional areas?
MINISTER GILLESPIE:
Yeah, look, we have been doing that too, and that's why the Prime Minister did organise 183,000 of the extra Pfizer that we were able to secure, went back into regional areas that had had it diverted temporarily down to Sydney for the HSC students.
So, look, it's back in Armidale. It's back up in the Northern Rivers. It's back into the Mid North Coast. You know, part of my electorate, Steve, is part of the Hunter, so I know these lockdowns really cramp people's ability to earn their living and their livelihood.
People get lonely, they get depressed. That's why it's so important. The sooner we can get large populations, you know, the 70 per cent to 80 per cent vaccinated, the sooner we can release, you know, open life back up again.
STEVE PRICE:
Well, the good news, of course, is it looks like Cairns - restrictions will remain in place for the meantime - should be out of lockdown pretty soon. Queensland is now out of lockdown. Victoria ended that five-day lockdown in regional areas.
So apart from these spot fires in New South Wales, Doctor, it would appear to me that we are doing a pretty good job at keeping it from getting out of major capital cities like Melbourne and Brisbane.
MINISTER GILLESPIE:
Yeah, you're right. You're right on the money there, Steve. Every day that it doesn't double, and we have a relatively flat curve, we are actually winning, even though people want to see it going down. But when you have a disease that's easily infectious and transmissible as the Delta variant of COVID, you know, a flat line is a much better outcome than seeing it going exponential.
STEVE PRICE:
Good to catch up with you. Thanks for your help.
MINISTER GILLESPIE:
My pleasure, Steve. Anytime.
STEVE PRICE:
Dr David Gillespie there, the Minister for Regional Health.