Health authorities in South Australia are racing to organise quarantine "camps" for Aboriginal people unable to quarantine at home.
A tender issued by SA Health this week sought companies able to manage facilities in regional centres like Port Augusta, Port Lincoln, Renmark and Mount Gambier in the event of an outbreak.
"It has been identified that facilities would be required for the quarantining of persons who would otherwise be unable to home quarantine due to their living circumstances," the tender document stated.
The sites, which are "currently being identified", are expected to be available from the end of November until June.
The tender said only contractors who could take control of and prepare the facilities with 24 to 48 hours notice would be considered.
The tender process opened on Monday and will close on Friday.
Cabins for close contacts
The tender called for the provision of health services like daily COVID-19 testing and "camp services" including food, waste management and cleaning.
The successful contractor would also have to provide translation and cultural support, including printed material in different languages.
"Some Aboriginal communities' sociocultural practices may place them at higher risk of transmission because they involve mobilisation and participation in communal cultural activities," the health document said.
Despite repeated warnings over more than a year, a COVID-19 outbreak took hold in Wilcannia in August.
Many were unable to isolate because of overcrowded housing.
Authorities in New South Wales eventually sent in a fleet of motorhomes, but not before the town's outbreak became the worst per capita in Australia.
Two-week quarantine expected
The facilities would house close contacts for 14 days, according to the tender.
Under a loosening of restrictions on Tuesday, only unvaccinated close contacts must quarantine for 14 days — vaccinated people are only required to isolate for seven.
Earlier this week health services expressed serious concern about the low rate of vaccination in some of SA's Aboriginal communities.
In Port Lincoln, only 34 per cent of Aboriginal people were fully vaccinated.
Ceduna's fully vaccinated rate sits at 36 per cent.
'Only the most vulnerable'
In a statement, a spokeswoman for SA Health confirmed it was looking into regional quarantine facilities to allow for a rapid response to a COVID-19 outbreak.
"The vast majority of COVID-positive people will be treated in the home via virtual care, if needed, with only the more vulnerable cases – approximately 10 per cent of cases – requiring care in a quarantine facility," the spokeswoman said.
According to the tender documentation, workers who test positive would be taken by bus to a medi-hotel.
Any patients requiring assessment at a hospital would be taken to the emergency department at Berri, in the Riverland.
Port Augusta Adnyamathanha elder Vince Coulthard said the camps were a "great initiative".
"I'm just saddened by the fact that they knew the borders were going to open today and they only just called the tenders on Monday," he said.
