PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Returning to our top story. Authorities in South Australia are moving swiftly to try and contain what could be the start of a second wave of coronavirus infections. Like Victoria, the outbreak was seeded by a worker in hotel quarantine and spread through a single large family. An aged care worker and a prison officer are among those who've tested positive. The Premier Steven Marshall has announced 14-days of tightened restrictions, which will see gyms closed and social distancing measures in homes and other businesses.
For more on this, we're joined by Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly. Professor Kelly, lovely to speak to you again. Authorities are confident they are getting on top of this quickly, but is there any way to know when the outbreak started?
PAUL KELLY:
So I guess I'm an authority, so I'm also confident, Patricia, about this. I think the way that the South Australian authorities have really got onto this so quickly and so thoroughly is exactly what we would have predicted from the Alan Finkel Review, the Chief Scientist review that was handed down at National Cabinet last Friday. He found, as he was going around the country, that all of the states and territories, including Victoria, are really very well prepared for exactly this sort of episode. So yes, I think they're getting on to it very quickly. They're doing all the right things with. We've had several meetings already with them, offered our support, as has the other states and territories.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
What are your biggest concerns in terms of how this outbreak could spread, including into aged care and the prison system?
PAUL KELLY:
So, yes, this is a- I mean, we should be realistic at the moment. It's all very early days, but we've got a single large family and a couple of other people that have been working in the quarantine hotels in Adelaide. So amongst that family group is a couple of workers in aged care, and as you say, one of the prisons in Adelaide. And so they've all done exactly the right thing. As soon as they found out that there were contacts of a known case, they called in and didn't go to work.
But it's possible that they might have been infectious at work during those days leading up to that diagnosis. And so, as expected and as we've planned, very rapid response. We’ve essentially set up something similar to that Victorian Aged Care Response Centre with dedicated resources from the Commonwealth, as well as from South Australia and the Aged Care Safety Quality Commission. So all of those things that we've learnt from those events in Victoria are now being worked through in Adelaide. So far, just those two staff members; no residents yet. They were all tested today in that one facility. And we've put out alerts throughout the wider area of Adelaide just to make sure that everyone knows what's going on. So, the testing will start in some of the other aged care facilities around there. But at the moment, all we've got is those 17 cases and we're hoping that that's going to be it.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
What do you make of the restrictions imposed by South Australia today? Are they adequate?
PAUL KELLY:
Well, they’ve essentially stepped back, a step if you like, into that restricted zone. South Australia has had an incredibly good run. And we're pretty much back to a pre COVID-normal in the sense of having, you know, quite a lot of people going to the Adelaide Oval for the footy. And people were, in a sense, may have become a little complacent about the issue.
But we've got to remember, Patricia, we've got a huge ongoing, raging pandemic around the world; 54 million and counting. And almost every other country other than ourselves, New Zealand, and a few Pacific Island countries are really struggling with large numbers of cases. We on the same side are welcoming Australians back from those countries as is their sovereign right to come back and to ask to be let back into the country they call home. And so inevitably, we're going to see some cases come back into our quarantine system, as has occurred. And because it's such an infectious virus, there's always that risk that it might actually spread in this way. And it's the most important thing is not that it's occurred, but the fact that we've responded so quickly and getting on top of it.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
How big is South Australia's contact tracing team and how quickly can it be expanded if necessary?
PAUL KELLY:
And look, I can't answer the exact numbers, but it has expanded in the recent months. And actually talking to Professor Finkel during his review as recently as last Friday, he was really impressed, particularly with the way that South Australia had a kind of tiered approach. They’ve got very strong, very experienced people in epidemiology and infection control and so forth employed. They've got a surge workforce from within their own group and options and opportunities to surge further.
And speaking to Professor Nicola Spurrier last night, I offered, you know, if she would like us to assist from the Commonwealth and she said yes. So we’ve stood up a team in Canberra to assist with the contact tracing. I know that West Australia has also offered a group today. And so we can expand as much as we need to. That was the whole plan with setting up a national capability like this, not so much that it's centralised, but that it's able to be surged to respond wherever the virus raises its head. And so today it's in Adelaide.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Look, we know some states – Queensland, WA – have imposed essentially hard borders against South Australians. Do you think that's necessary?
PAUL KELLY:
Look, I've said many times before that the issue of domestic borders is a matter for the states, and they'll have to justify those decisions.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
[Interrupts] Sure. But in your assessment, are they necessary?
PAUL KELLY:
Well, I think we've got a cluster of 17 people, almost all of them from one single family group. And my preference would be to allow the very good and very well trained, and very adequate public health response to play out. And that's happening now. Others have a different view. I can say that ACT, Victoria, and New South Wales have are alert, but not alarmed. They haven't closed the borders. But they are, you know, looking to get that information out to anyone that's travelled from South Australia and [indistinct] double check…
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
[Talks over] Is that the better approach?
PAUL KELLY:
Well, that's the approach they've chosen, and other states have chosen other ones. But I’ll leave that to them.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
[Interrupts] But is that the better approach - which one do you think is the better approach?
PAUL KELLY:
[Laughs] There are two approaches and they’re playing out in different ways.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
[Interrupts] Which one is actually your- because you provide the medical advice. Which one would you advise?
PAUL KELLY:
So I'm not providing medical advice to the state Premiers. They need to take that from their own people in their own states and make their own decisions. So from the national point of view, I don't see that this is a hot spot yet. It hasn't met my definition at the Commonwealth level as a hot spot. But I'm looking very closely and carefully and really sweating on those next lot of test results, which will be- some will be through as early as tomorrow. But at the moment, we've got those, just that one group really and a very rapid response by the South Australians. And I think that's going to hopefully work this out. But it won't be the last time that we have an outbreak like this, Patricia. I'm sure as long as we remain at least partially open to the world of people coming back from overseas, where there are so many cases right now, we're going to see more cases. And it's just that response that we need to do. And it's happening. It's really happening as we've planned it, [indistinct] very well.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
What does this tell us about the inherent vulnerabilities of hotel quarantine?
PAUL KELLY:
Well, there is an inherent vulnerability if we were to stop people coming back altogether and shut ourselves up from the rest of the world, then, you know, that would be safer. But that's just not possible. As you said in the promo just now, we're all on this earth. We're all circling around through the solar system. And in a way, we are still joined. And in many ways, we still have trade going in and out of Australia. We still have people going in and out of Australia. And the virus usually travels with people. So because of the infectiousness of this virus, it's impossible to have zero risk. But all of the things, all of the measures we have in place in our quarantine, the cleaning, the personal protective equipment, the infection control, et cetera, the training, all of those things help. But none of them are 100 per cent. And so, these things are going to happen and the matter is getting on top of them when they do happen.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Thank you so much for joining us.
PAUL KELLY:
You're welcome, Patricia.
PATRICIA KARVELAS:
Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly there. This is RN Drive.
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