1
00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,040
Speaker 1: Job mission with Jones and Amanda.

2
00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:06,240
Speaker 2: Well, yesterday New South Wales only recorded ten new cases

3
00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:08,080
Speaker 2: of COVID, which is great news.

4
00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:09,120
Speaker 3: Great news.

5
00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,600
Speaker 2: Our premier is telling us that not enough people are

6
00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,159
Speaker 2: being tested. Are we getting complacent? I thought it was

7
00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:17,840
Speaker 2: good news that we had less cases. Should we all

8
00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,520
Speaker 2: be tested? I don't know what where to put ourselves,

9
00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,200
Speaker 2: so we thought. We talked to Dr Kerry Chant. She

10
00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,079
Speaker 2: is the New South Wales Chief Medical Officer and she

11
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:26,960
Speaker 2: joins us this morning.

12
00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:30,080
Speaker 1: Good morning, Carry, Good morning Brendan and Amanda.

13
00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:31,920
Speaker 3: Oh hillo, Kerry, I like when you call me Brendan,

14
00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:33,200
Speaker 3: it's very nice.

15
00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,320
Speaker 2: Well, the numbers going down, it doesn't mean that there's

16
00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:38,880
Speaker 2: less COVID in our community.

17
00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,639
Speaker 1: It's a gunna edd sword. What we need to know

18
00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,000
Speaker 1: is that we're not missing any cases, so that if

19
00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,440
Speaker 1: people have got those COVID symptoms, we are asking that

20
00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,800
Speaker 1: you don't delay, immediately go and get tested, because that

21
00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,160
Speaker 1: will give us the assurance that we're not missing any

22
00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,320
Speaker 1: of those cases. And we're at a critical point in

23
00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,040
Speaker 1: our response and we want to make sure that we're

24
00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,959
Speaker 1: stopping any of those unrecognized chains of transmission at the

25
00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:07,600
Speaker 1: earliest possible point.

26
00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,160
Speaker 3: The thing we brought up yesterday was if you're feeling okay.

27
00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:13,679
Speaker 3: So for example, I said, right now, I'm going to

28
00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,120
Speaker 3: go and get a test at our little place around

29
00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:17,920
Speaker 3: north right. If I go and do that, I've got

30
00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:20,640
Speaker 3: to go and isolate for seventy two hours until I

31
00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:22,399
Speaker 3: get the test results back. That means I can't come

32
00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:24,760
Speaker 3: to work tomorrow. So if everyone did that, the country

33
00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:26,120
Speaker 3: would grow into a holt, wouldn't it not.

34
00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,840
Speaker 1: Well, we're already asking you if you've got symptoms as composed,

35
00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:35,160
Speaker 1: so that's running those costs fever, loss of taste or smell.

36
00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,200
Speaker 1: So we are only wanting to test symptomatic people, so

37
00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,800
Speaker 1: people with symptoms, and pleasingly, our turn around times are

38
00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,160
Speaker 1: much better than that. So on average we are often

39
00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,520
Speaker 1: getting same day test results back to people, and you

40
00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,480
Speaker 1: can work from home whilst you're doing that isolation. So

41
00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,440
Speaker 1: we are asking that symptomatic people people with symptoms aren't

42
00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,480
Speaker 1: out and about. We are asking you that you get tested.

43
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,040
Speaker 1: As I said, at the moment, we are seeing low

44
00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:08,040
Speaker 1: rates of community transmission of COVID, but we want to

45
00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:12,240
Speaker 1: actually drive it down to the lowest possible level, particularly

46
00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,839
Speaker 1: apart head of the school holidays. When we'll likely see

47
00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:17,720
Speaker 1: that increasing mobility of a population.

48
00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,639
Speaker 2: Do you think less people are being tested because they're

49
00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:23,880
Speaker 2: getting complacent, We're all over the message, we're kind of

50
00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:25,960
Speaker 2: sick of it, or we've also got a lot of

51
00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,359
Speaker 2: hay fevers, so people are probably seeing that these symptoms

52
00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:28,919
Speaker 2: are just that.

53
00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,520
Speaker 1: I think there's probably with all problems, there's a few

54
00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,079
Speaker 1: different causes for it. I just want to congratulate the

55
00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,760
Speaker 1: strain the new self community. They have turned out for testing,

56
00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,160
Speaker 1: and we've managed to drive those testing at rates up

57
00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,040
Speaker 1: really high. The challenge will be sustaining that. So I

58
00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,240
Speaker 1: think there is a little bit of a level of

59
00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:54,679
Speaker 1: they're not hearing about the large clusters of cases. They're

60
00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:59,320
Speaker 1: seeing the case clusters decline and they're probably thinking, oh,

61
00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,240
Speaker 1: I've probably haven't got COVID, I've got something else. But

62
00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,120
Speaker 1: also other respiratory viruses are also declining, so we're seeing

63
00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,760
Speaker 1: very low levels of flu and also some of the

64
00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:15,680
Speaker 1: other respiratory viruses which can cause the symptoms, So that

65
00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,320
Speaker 1: could contribute. If people are not getting symptoms other symptoms,

66
00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,560
Speaker 1: then they're not going to be presenting for testing, and that.

67
00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:24,840
Speaker 3: Could mean as well that why people aren't getting tested

68
00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:27,160
Speaker 3: because everyone's actually feeling better this flu season.

69
00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,320
Speaker 1: Look, that's an optimistic element. I think there's probably a

70
00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:33,800
Speaker 1: combination of both. So we can need to continue to

71
00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:35,920
Speaker 1: get the message. And I thank you for getting that

72
00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,880
Speaker 1: message out about the importance of sustaining those high rates

73
00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:39,400
Speaker 1: of testing.

74
00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:41,880
Speaker 2: So it was interesting because when you see the lower numbers,

75
00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,440
Speaker 2: you think, oh, isn't that great, But you're saying that

76
00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:46,680
Speaker 2: people with symptoms still aren't getting tested.

77
00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,680
Speaker 1: I'm saying thank you to the community because overall we

78
00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,760
Speaker 1: still have quite high rates, but we have noticed a decline.

79
00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,960
Speaker 1: Every weekend we see a decline, and partly that's because

80
00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,640
Speaker 1: some of the general practices or the way we access

81
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,760
Speaker 1: services may be closed. But it's also a reminder to

82
00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,720
Speaker 1: the community that there's a number of COVID test clinics

83
00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:10,680
Speaker 1: that are opened across the weekend, and so access to

84
00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,360
Speaker 1: testing exists across the weekend as well.

85
00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:15,440
Speaker 2: And can I just ask you to reiterate, just because

86
00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,400
Speaker 2: you've been tested once, if you get the symptoms again,

87
00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:19,919
Speaker 2: you need to get tested again.

88
00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:25,120
Speaker 1: That's correct. So just because you've been tested once, you

89
00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,599
Speaker 1: might be three weeks later you need to come back

90
00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:28,520
Speaker 1: and get another test.

91
00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:29,760
Speaker 2: Right, It's not an immunity.

92
00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,640
Speaker 3: It's very ambient, but it's so ambiguous the whole thing,

93
00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:34,599
Speaker 3: isn't it really when you look at it. And also

94
00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,120
Speaker 3: secondly to that, I think our governments are probably getting

95
00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,200
Speaker 3: caught up in a little bit of the numbers games,

96
00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,840
Speaker 3: with the stats and the computer modeling, particularly in places

97
00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:48,240
Speaker 3: like Victoria and Queensland. What do you make I think, Well,

98
00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,320
Speaker 3: I just think that they're getting caught too caught up

99
00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,280
Speaker 3: in the computer modeling exactly what I just said. You know,

100
00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:56,240
Speaker 3: when we had swine flu in two thousand and nine,

101
00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,880
Speaker 3: we didn't have the technology or the connectivity that we

102
00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,279
Speaker 3: have now. We think, we know, we have too much

103
00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,840
Speaker 3: information about this particular virus, and there's too many people

104
00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,160
Speaker 3: that don't actually know what they're talking about that have

105
00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:10,440
Speaker 3: the information, Like you know what I mean, there's too

106
00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:12,400
Speaker 3: much misinformation that gets spread about it.

107
00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,520
Speaker 1: Ah. Look, I think that we're trying to move to

108
00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:20,240
Speaker 1: no community transmission. So we're finding that, as you're aware,

109
00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:23,160
Speaker 1: we've had a few clusters and what we've had is

110
00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,599
Speaker 1: the sort of almost sequential seeding of a variety of

111
00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,440
Speaker 1: different outbreaks. We're trying to bring those to a close.

112
00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,440
Speaker 1: The only way we can do that is by ensure

113
00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:34,919
Speaker 1: that there's high rates of testing so that there isn't

114
00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,800
Speaker 1: any undetected spread. This is an interesting virus in the

115
00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:43,159
Speaker 1: sense that the symptoms for many can be quite mild

116
00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:47,800
Speaker 1: and for some very severe, and that presents significant challenges.

117
00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,080
Speaker 1: We would not normally be asking people to go and

118
00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,880
Speaker 1: get tested for the range of symptoms we're currently asking

119
00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,440
Speaker 1: people to get tested for. So I want to acknowledge

120
00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,400
Speaker 1: the role of the community and really thank them for

121
00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,559
Speaker 1: that support. But at the moment, we want to drive

122
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,760
Speaker 1: the transmission levels to very very low levels. I should

123
00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,960
Speaker 1: also mention that we also will ask people to present

124
00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:15,960
Speaker 1: for testing if they don't have symptoms in very unique circumstances.

125
00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,520
Speaker 1: Now that's when they may be close contacts of the case,

126
00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,400
Speaker 1: and that may be also when they've been at a

127
00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,440
Speaker 1: particular venue in close contact with someone who, as a

128
00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,320
Speaker 1: known case, has been at those venues. And the reason

129
00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,960
Speaker 1: we ask Public Health ask them to do that specific

130
00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,080
Speaker 1: action is because it buys us time, because we know

131
00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:40,159
Speaker 1: we can text the virus a few days before the

132
00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:44,479
Speaker 1: person becomes symptomatic or developed symptoms, and that gives us

133
00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:48,280
Speaker 1: extra time to lock down the trains of transmission. So

134
00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,839
Speaker 1: The only other time we'd ask the community to get

135
00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:55,040
Speaker 1: tested is in particular circumstances we might give different advice.

136
00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,320
Speaker 1: So the key message is only get tested when you've

137
00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:02,000
Speaker 1: got symptoms, except when public health is telling you to

138
00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,600
Speaker 1: get tested without symptoms.

139
00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,560
Speaker 3: Okay, well, thank you doctor Kerry Chan, thank you very much.

140
00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,120
Speaker 3: It's so frustrating. It's such a frustrating situation we're in

141
00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:12,000
Speaker 3: at the moment, isn't it.

142
00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,080
Speaker 1: I think we're all very hopeful that we will have

143
00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,760
Speaker 1: a safe and effective vaccine to roll out in twenty

144
00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:23,800
Speaker 1: twenty one, but we have to continue to get testers.

145
00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,160
Speaker 1: We have to continue to modify our practices in a

146
00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,280
Speaker 1: COVID safe way, and that is a challenge to sustain

147
00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:32,640
Speaker 1: those thank you can imagine.

148
00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:34,680
Speaker 3: Fight the good fight. Thank you doctor, Thank you, thank you.

149
00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,840
Speaker 1: Take care Sure, Sure with James and Amanda