New South Wales Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said one of the lessons that the state’s health authorities have learned from Melbourne experience with its COVID lockdowns was the need to work closely in partnership with multicultural communities to get health messages out quickly to community members.
Dr Chant was speaking a special Zoom conference for multicultural media organisations that included the state’s Minister of Health Brent Hazzard and Minister for Multiculturalism Natalie Ward.
In response to a question by Neos Kosmos, Dr Chant said that Victoria’s experience had showed that it was vital to work in partnership with multicultural media organisations and businesses to get the message out to the ethnic communities so that their members can clearly understand what was required to counter the spread of COVID and what support was available to them.
She said there was financial and other support available through the government to help get the message to the communities and also to help ease their status.
Mr Hazzard said that the role of multicultural media would be crucial over the coming weeks. The minister advised that those who had received their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine should get their second as soon as possible. He added, however that supplies of the vaccine were low compared to the Astra Zeneca vaccine. Increased supplies of the Pfizer vaccine were expected in September.
He said that people over 40 years of age could get the AstraZeneca vaccine as there were General Practitioners (GPs) who could administer it or they could book an appointment on the NSW Health COVID-19 booking website. He advised that people under 40 years of age should first consult with their GPs before taking the vaccine.
With regard to the current outbreak in Sydney, Mr Hazzard said there was a marked difference with the earlier outbreak in the city’s North Beaches area which had been much easier to isolate and control.
“Fairfield, Canterbury, Liverpool and Bankstown are areas of particular focus.”
Ms Ward said the message to people in those communities was “Stay at home and no visitors”.
She added that any visitor from another household even if they were relatives should not be allowed in.
Ms Ward said there were several ways to help people impacted by pandemic enforced isolation and there were regular consultations with community organisations about available services and grants to help further. Community leaders were consulted to get the message out in over 60 languages.
“Those who know their communities can do the best work. The most loving thing you can do right now is not to go into a house. If you want to leave something, leave it at the door. If you do need to talk, do it outside (the house).”
Dr Chant said that three quarters of the cases in the Fairfield area had been linked to extended families who visited each other. She said it was a sign of the strength of the communities but she added that the message was getting out.
Mr Hazzard said that the state was very careful about how it went about controlling people’s movements in what was a hard lockdown.
He said the Victorian government had defined what were essential services and the NSW was also in discussions to define what services were essential which was a thorny issue.
“We are not in the business of telling where to go but we are saying they should stay at home. The community trusts us and we trust the community.
“There has been a huge reduction in mobility in Fairfield so we thank them for doing a good job,” said Mr Hazzard.
At present it was mandatory for people working in the aged care and in quarantine related services to be vaccinated. But the lack of sufficient vaccines was a problem particularly supplies of the Pfizer vaccine for younger people.
Dr Chant said 9.6percent of the state population had received a second vaccine dose and the vaccination rate was higher among the Over-60s – the result of one of the lessons learnt from Melbourne’s experiences.
“Each community is different and we need to work in partnership with the communities, their media and businesses to get the message out there and make it easier to understand. ”
Mr Hazzard said the NSW government was keen for the return of international students and was looking at plans to bring them in smaller numbers but this needed to be done in consultation with the federal government which controlled the number of people coming into the country. He added that the plans also depended on bringing the latest COVID outbreak under control.
“We are keen to get the students back, they bring a vibrancy and and energy and they also bring the world to our doorstep,” Mr Hazzard said.