A Mid West pastoralist and shire president says his son's experience after testing positive to COVID-19 made him 'very worried' about the ability of the health system in regional Western Australia to deal with the growing outbreak.
Key Points:
- Shire president says family had to drive to a mine site for a COVID test after nursing post was shut
- Son returned two positive RATs after becoming sick
- Questions over whether 'exposure site' report was accurate
Yalgoo shire president Greg Payne said his family had to drive to a mine site for a PCR test because the local nursing post, which had been closed for most of the previous three weeks, was shut on Monday.
He said health authorities might also have incorrectly reported his son's exposure to other people at a hotel days earlier.
Mr Payne said his son, a mine worker, became unwell on the family's station, 480 kilometres north-east of Perth on Sunday, and returned two positive rapid antigen tests, which they reported online.
"Eventually WA Health got onto one of the mining companies and approached them and asked if they could administer a PCR test and they were kind enough ... to let us drive down there and do a PCR test on all five of us and they flew it to Perth (Monday) night," he said.
Plea for 'basic service'
Three weeks ago the Yalgoo Shire Council wrote to the Health Minister saying they 'implored' her to look at nursing and doctor shortages in the Mid West.
The letter said 'We have been informed by the Western Australia Country Health Service that due to staffing issues our nursing post will only be attended two to three days per week for the next few weeks,' the council wrote.
The shire now says the relief nurse worked for about three 'partial days' over the fortnight.
A nurse was flown to Yalgoo on Tuesday this week.
In its letter, the council asked for royalties generated in regional WA be used to 'support a basic level of service' in health.
Exposure site question
Mr Payne said his son had been to the Freemasons Hotel in Geraldton for about three hours last Thursday night, before a mask mandate was introduced to the Midwest, which the family had not seen reported in exposure sites online.
The exposure site at the hotel was listed as being on Saturday night when he was back home in Yalgoo.
The Health Department has been contacted to clarify the situation.
Overnight, three new locations were added as low-risk exposure sites on Thursday night, including The Freemason's Hotel, Old Man and The Sea rooftop bar and The Geraldton Hotel.
He said the state had so far been 'lucky' but he was concerned for the future especially in shires such as Yalgoo which has a high indigenous and elderly population.
"It does not give me much confidence in the health system at all which is very worrying.
"They have had plenty of time to work this out.
Death that haunts town
"We have had deaths in Yalgoo because there was not a nurse there, someone died on the doorstep of the nursing post a few years ago.
The WA Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson has also been contacted for comment.
Nationals Member for the North West Vince Catania said people should be able to get tested for COVID-19 in towns such as Yalgoo.
"For five years we have been arguing for two nurses at least to be posted at places like Yalgoo at the nursing post and Cue to ensure the community has coverage," Mr Catania said.
