The two COVID contacts in the Shoalhaven last week reminded us all we are not out of the woods as far as this virus is concerned. Not by a long shot. They also showed us there is room for improvement in the way NSW Health gets the information out to the public.
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Take the contact at Bannisters in Mollymook as an example. Word started circulating on social media on Friday night after someone, presumably on behalf of the COVID testing clinic in Ulladulla, posted that weekend testing would be available because of the "developing situation".
It wasn't long before people were make all sorts of conclusions about what turned out to be a very low-risk contact. The guest had attended the venue on August 1 and only returned a positive test 13 days later.
This would have been handy to know much earlier than 11am the following day, after many people had already assumed the worst. Likewise the earlier case at the Wildginger restaurant in Huskisson. Once again, people found out via social media and the rumour mill began to whirr.
It took 48 hours for NSW Health to clarify an earlier confirmation statement that one, not two, infectious people had visited the venue. Subsequent digging led us to The Cove Jervis Bay, where we learned the two Sydney visitors had checked into a glamping tent late on Friday night and left very early because of the torrential rain. There had been no direct contact with staff and assessments determined other places they had visited presented almost zero risk because they had only been there for less than 15 minutes.
Still, not wanting to take any chances The Cove shut down and directed its staff into isolation.
We understand there is enormous pressure on NSW Health at the moment. We also ackowledge - and the numbers confirm it - that the work it is doing is helping to keep the spread of the virus under control. Is there room for improvement? Most certainly. One area that could be improved is the flow of information.
This is really important in smaller communities, where we've first earned about local COVID contacts via social media rather than through the proper channels. Social media is not a reliable source of information, rather a place for wild speculation and often inaccurate claims.
Timely release of COVID information would help us all, including NSW Health.
