The government must do more to increase Tasmania’s COVID-19 testing rate to build a clearer picture of the impact of the virus in our community.
Labor Leader, Rebecca White, said now was not the time to become complacent.
“It’s worrying that despite restrictions starting to ease, the number of Tasmanians presenting for testing is dramatically declining, with just 424 state-wide yesterday,” Ms White said.
“While the government has been encouraging Tasmanians with symptoms to get tested, it needs to go beyond targeting only symptomatic people.
“We know it can take up to 14 days for COVID-19 symptoms to show and in up to 50% of positive COVID-19 cases in Australia, patients have shown no symptoms, which is a clear sign we need to also test people who are asymptomatic.
“We have the capacity to test 2000 people a day in Tasmania and the government must introduce new measures including setting up mobile testing clinics that are easily accessible for people in places like supermarkets.
“In Victoria, testing clinics have been set up in Bunnings’ car parks and that is something the government should be exploring here.
“We also need to ensure all workers can access testing without the worry they might miss out on income, this is particularly important for casual workers who don’t have leave entitlements.
“Peter Gutwein must lobby the federal government to introduce pandemic leave to ensure those workers will not be left out of pocket for doing the right thing and staying home from work if they’re feeling unwell.”
Rebecca White MP
Labor Leader
