COVID outbreak in Wagga, Riverina region 'inevitable', says MLHD chief executive

Jill Ludford reassured that as of 11am on Friday, no residents within the Murumbidgee have been diagnosed with COVID, and that the health district would let the public know if and when this changes.

"I appreciate this is an extraordinarily difficult time for all of our communities who are living at a knife's edge, where we are seeing outbreaks all around us in the cities and the rural areas that surround us," she said, with the situation potentially changing "within a couple of hours".

"Let's look after each other in this very very difficult time and know that we will probably have an outbreak here at some point in time, but we are doing all we possibly can to be ready."

She said that the MLHD doesn't have the power to call a lockdown, and that stay-at-home orders would only come into effect locally if announced by the Premier, based on advice from the chief health officer.

Ms Ludford, along with Riverina Police Superintendent Bob Noble, addressed the media on Friday to outline the various measures in place across the region in the event of an outbreak of COVID-19.

She explained that sewage testing for COVID fragments is ongoing in six locations across the region, acting as the vital first step in identifying a potential outbreak.

"When we get that positive sewage detection, we know that we are really getting very close to having an outbreak in our region," Ms Ludford said.

In the event of a positive case within the MLHD, the local public health unit would step up and begin contact tracing, including identifying any venues of concern where COVID-positive people may have visited.

"That's how we reduce community transmission," Ms Ludford said.

While contact tracing is ongoing, testing resources would also be ramped up in collaboration with private pathology providers, the chief executive explained.

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Ms Ludford also said that preparation is ongoing at the district's major hospitals for anyone "who becomes severely ill (due to COVID) and may need to be admitted into a COVID ward or ultimately into an intensive care unit for ventilation or high level care".

"We have tripled our capability to provide intensive care services so we are ready," she added.

Wagga and Griffith Base would be the only hospitals taking COVID patients, she explained, because smaller hospitals and multipurpose service's create a higher risk of transmission to the elderly population.

For anyone in the region who contracts COVID but doesn't require hospitalisation, the MLHD has capabilities to provide a "hospital in the home" with daily supervision, or supported accommodation.

"People who are not so well and can't quarantine safely at home can go into accommodation where we provide them with hot meals, welfare support and a daily health check," Ms Ludford said.

In terms of what the public should do to prepare for an outbreak, her message was simple: "Don't panic".

Ms Ludford also encouraged the community to continue following the regional public health orders such as face mask wearing, social distancing and limited gatherings, as well as getting tested early if symptoms arise, and coming forward for vaccination.

"The combination of vaccination and the public health measures...is what is going to get us out of this situation that we all find ourselves in right now," she said.

"That will be our way out of this pandemic."

Superintendent Noble said that the region emergency management committee has been meeting regularly since March 2020, and are actively "planning ahead to support health when things get a bit more difficult", in areas such as compliance and unnecessary travel.

Ms Ludford acknowledged the sense of "waiting, and that feeling of foreboding" in the community, and urges people to seek mental health support if required, and to be kind to one another.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have been a total of 61 COVID cases in the MLHD.

It has been just over one year since locals were diagnosed with the virus whilst in the region, when on August 3 last year, a family of four in Wagga tested positive upon returning from Victoria.

12 months later, the only further cases counted by the local health district have been residents in hotel quarantine, or self-isolation, in Sydney - outside of the Murrumbidgee during their infectious period.

The most recent hotel quarantine case involving local residents was reported on December 7 last year, when two people in Sydney quarantine - who have a residential address in Wagga - tested positive upon returning from overseas.

Also since the pandemic began, there has been one COVID-related death in the MLHD, and over 85,000 tests conducted.

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