Environmental Health Australia COVID-19 Open Letter

BRISBANE, Australia - March 22, 2020 - PRLog -- Cognisant of the most recent border closures and real attempts to limit the spread,
Environmental Health Australia (EHA) believes that current measures that have been
introduced are insufficient to check the progress of the disease. Most states have
now recorded community transmission of Covid19. EHA believes that immediate and
further action needs to be taken to check the progress of Covid19 in Australia
including, but not limited to;
• A substantial increase in testing of all persons exhibiting "any" flu like
symptoms within any, and all, communities;
• Immediate self-isolation being compelled for all persons exhibiting "any" flu
like symptoms;
• Clearer advice (simple messaging and via saturation of traditional and social
media) on protocols for self-isolation and social distancing being
communicated through all media outlets to the general public;
• More extensive tracing, testing and self-isolating of the contacts of all
confirmed cases, enlisting the assistance of Local Government Environmental
Health Officers to assist with this work;
• The immediate lockdown of areas where community transmission has already
occurred;
• The immediate scaling down of all public school operations, or closure, or the
bringing forward of the Easter holiday period for pupils. Scaling down should
be immediately encouraged, such that wherever possible children that can be
kept home, and be provided with educational materials through their school,
are kept home;
• Direction being given to employers to enable "wherever possible" work from
home arrangements for staff;
• The immediate approval and compulsion of bulk billing for all telephone
medical consultations with General Practitioners.
EHA calls on the federal and all state, territory and local governments and
government departments to assist in the undertaking of these and any other
pragmatic actions to try and check the current spread of Covid19.

https://www.eh.org.au/news/covid-19-an-open-letter-to-ministers