Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Health spokesperson
Tasmanian Covid cases are rising faster than anywhere else in the country, and Government figures show one person is dying every three days due to this disease. The Rockliff Government must pull its long-buried head from the sand, and put in place measures to protect the community from preventable harm.
The latest weekly statistics released by the Tasmanian Health Service shows there's been 1,252 Covid cases recorded in the past week. This is an increase of 42% on last week - the highest rise in the nation.
This is already a seriously concerning figure, but we know the true number of cases in the community will be much higher, given there is no longer any publicly run testing facilities, or government-mandated testing requirements.
The Government's latest Respiratory Surveillance Report, which records more detailed information up until 7 May, also includes some truly shocking statistics.
This Surveillance Report shows that for the first four months of 2023, a Tasmanian has died from Covid every three days on average. It also showed that on average six Tasmanians have been hospitalised every day with this deadly illness.
It's clear Covid is still posing a significant risk to the community - particularly to vulnerable, elderly, immunocompromised, and disabled Tasmanians. It's also causing real disruption to healthcare and hospitals, schools, and other essential services.
This is a serious ongoing issue, but Tasmania's part-time Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff continues to do nothing.
Just like on so many other critical issues, it seems he simply doesn’t care enough.