CORONAVIRUS — ST
JOHN AMBULANCE — SELF-ISOLATION
342. Hon Dr BRIAN WALKER to the minister representing the
Minister for Health:
I refer the minister to media
reports earlier this week suggesting that she had taken senior managers at St
John Ambulance to task for opting out of the government's amended rules
for close contacts. Given that ambulance staff are extremely mobile across the
course of any shift and come face to face with some of our most vulnerable Western
Australians, will the McGowan government concede that St John Ambulance is more
than justified in taking a cautious approach, which has the potential to limit
transmission, and that it is the expert in this space to whom we should be
listening?
Hon SUE ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
The
WA government follows the expert advice of the Chief Health Officer. The COVID
Transition (Healthcare Critical Worker) Directions was implemented based
on health advice in a very high case load environment. The direction permits healthcare critical workers, including
ambulance officers, who are asymptomatic close contacts to temporarily
attend work during their isolation period to facilitate the continuity of
essential operations. However, they must be requested to return to work by
their employer and agree to do so. Strict conditions apply for critical workers
who attend work under these settings, including providing daily negative rapid
antigen tests; being fully vaccinated, including a third dose if eligible;
wearing a mask at all times; and self-isolating when not at work. WA hospitals
have implemented a furlough guideline that is consistent with the direction and
it is expected St John Ambulance would be in line with the public health
system. This policy strikes the right balance to protect vulnerable people from
COVID-19 and ensure that essential services such as St John Ambulance are
maintained.