The Central Australian Aboriginal Congress is calling for more serious and effective public health measures to be put in place before it’s too late to respond to what it says are growing Covid case numbers in Alice Springs and surrounding Central Australian communities.
Congress Acting CEO Josie Douglas says every plan that preceded this outbreak said that the focus would be to test, trace, isolate and quarantine- but instead we have a response that seems to have left people to fend for themselves in overcrowded houses where it is not possible to safely isolate without spreading the virus to others.
Ms Douglas says while “Congress has responded in every way possible, redeploying staff, closing supplementary services and clinics, we still can’t plug the holes made by the Territory government’s seeming lack of care for Aboriginal people.”
“We need to get this right ! We do need a major boost to our workforce to help with contact tracing. We do need the support of the Commonwealth and maybe even the military to get on top of the logistics of moving people into isolation facilities from overcrowded unsuitable houses.” John Boffa, Chief Medical Officer Public Health at Central Australian Aboriginal Congress Aboriginal Corporation.
