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South Australia has broadened its coronavirus response by launching a two-week "testing blitz" to encourage anyone in the state with symptoms to get checked for COVID-19.
Key points:
- The "testing blitz" will run for the next two weeks, Premier Steven Marshall said
- Even people with mild symptoms are encouraged to get tested
- SA Health said there were no new positive cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours
The State Government is now urging anyone with a cough, a runny nose, cold symptoms or a fever to seek a test.
So far, 38,000 South Australians have been checked, but no positive results were returned in the past 24 hours, with the total number of positive cases in the state remaining at 433.
Health authorities on Wednesday announced a "testing blitz", which SA Premier Steven Marshall said would help to further tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
"Anybody in the community here in South Australia who has got any of the symptoms which lend themselves to coronavirus can go off to one of our 54 rapid testing and assessment clinics in South Australia and be tested," he said.
"There is really a great opportunity to provide great assurance to the people of South Australia that we're doing everything we possibly can to make sure that we are the safest place.
"We have had, unequivocally, the highest level of testing in Australia and amongst the highest level of testing, per capita, of anywhere in the world."
Chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said the move to broaden testing would provide reassurance to people concerned about being infected.
"I would like to also encourage people who have just got mild symptoms — so that might be a cough, a sore throat, a runny nose or a bit of shortness of breath — we would like to have you tested," she said.
"It's also … [for] yourself as an individual to be reassured in terms of looking after your family and your community."
She said 279 people had now recovered form the virus in South Australia, which amounted to 64 per cent of those that had been infected.
Ten people remain in hospital, with just one in intensive care in a critical condition.
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Calls for a broader parking scheme for frontline workers
Earlier on Wednesday, Labor called on the State Government to broaden free parking for healthcare workers.
On the weekend, the Government announced it would slash parking costs for nurses, doctors and other hospital staff working in the metro area for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.
But Labor health spokesperson Chris Picton said many healthcare workers would not save much under the new scheme, unless they have an existing parking pass.
He said it was capped at about $100 per month.
"If the Government's only going to support them for $100 a month, that's very quickly going to get eaten up within three-and-a-half days of going to the hospital," he said.
"That would cover majority of the people who have access to a car parking pass through a hospital, but that wouldn't cover all of our hardworking nurses and cleaners who don't have access to a car parking pass and have to pay a lot more every time they go to work.
"We're calling on the Government to do a fair dinkum free parking for our nurses and other health staff."
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SA Health suspends KordaMentha contract
South Australia's health department has also temporarily suspended its contract with KordaMentha.
The firm had been investigating major budgetary and cultural issues within the Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) — including the Royal Adelaide Hospital — since the end of 2018.
Its contract was extended for another 12 months earlier this year, but Health Minister Stephen Wade said that arrangement had now been suspended.
He said the State Government's top priority was managing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and suspending the contract would mean the health system could fully focus on that effort.
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Topics: health, diseases-and-disorders, covid-19, disease-control, pathology, diseases, government-and-politics, federal-government, states-and-territories, federal---state-issues, adelaide-5000, sa
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