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Canberra Today 23°/26° | Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Ongoing measures needed to reach new national virus goal

Chief Minister Andrew Barr

ONGOING measures will be required, even when there is no community transmission, to prevent an uncontrollable spread of COVID-19 in the future, says ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who has agreed to the “zero community transmission” goal discussed in National Cabinet today (July 24). 

The suppression strategy remains the focus at National Cabinet, as opposed to an elimination strategy, which has been discussed in virus management talks since COVID-19 was first recorded in Australia.

“COVID-19 will remain a threat to public health for the foreseeable future, even when there is no community transmission, therefore, ongoing measures are required to ensure the virus does not become embedded and spread uncontrollably in the community,” Mr Barr says.

“Australia is now experiencing a second wave which is inherently different to the first wave. There is a predominance of community transmission, a change in the affected demographic and a rapid escalation of cases.

“The recent outbreaks have demonstrated that if the disease is able to enter the community unseen, it will spread quickly.”

For these reasons, Mr Barr says the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) has recommended, and National Cabinet has agreed, that the policy goal for Australia should be to have no community transmission of COVID-19.

“This represents a further strengthening of the current suppression strategy, but acknowledges that new cases will occur. Success will rely on finding those cases early and stopping chains of transmission,” Mr Barr says.

“When there is no community transmission, it is then possible to carefully relax restrictions, whilst maintaining some level of protection.”

Mr Barr says achieving and maintaining this goal requires a strict commitment to personal measures, active case finding and contact tracing, targeted testing of the affected population and community based interventions such as limits on gathering sizes, new ways of working and movement restrictions.

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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