OPINION
DR NORMAN SWAN SAYS AUSTRALIA’S AGE SERVICES INDUSTRY GOT IT RIGHT
D
—But there is no room for complacency.
r Norman Swan—who generously produced five informative videos to help older people stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic—has commended the age services industry for protecting Australia’s elders.
“There is not a scintilla of doubt in my mind that widespread lockdowns have been justified,” he said. “We have saved thousands and thousands of lives in Australia, mostly lives of people who are over the age of 70, in particular the frail elderly. “If Australia was handling it badly, we would have outbreaks all over the place in aged care but there has only been a handful. That must be a credit to how aged care is coping with the situation.” Dr Swan acknowledged the residential aged care facilities that were badly affected but said if Australia had not acted so strongly to control COVID-19, we could have been facing a similar situation to Sweden. “It’s run riot in Sweden in residential aged care, with a higher death rate than Britain,” he said. “Sweden is an older society than ours and you think they would have pretty high standards, yet most of the thousands who have died are either elderly or in aged care.” He believes there are three key aspects to continue reducing and avoiding community transmission of the virus: social distancing, hygiene and protection through the use of masks. “We need a very strong testing infrastructure, so that everybody with a symptom can get tested, regardless of whether they think they have COVID-19 or not,” Dr Swan said. “Then their contacts are traced and they are quarantined if there are significant contacts.” Widespread adoption of the COVIDSafe app is also essential and, combined with the use of masks, would allow a quicker return to normality. And the chances of a second or third wave? “We will see small outbreaks, here and there, which will be well-controlled but costly because we have very expensive testing infrastructure. This is less costly than having a really long community lockdown, though,” Dr Swan said.
“A third wave in 2021 could be really nasty if we get complacent, if we haven’t got a vaccine next year and if states and territories have relaxed their testing regimes. “We are at risk of a third wave if we lose touch with what we need to do to keep things under control.”
Dr Norman Swan.
There is also the risk of other pandemics in the future. “There will be an influenza pandemic in the next few years, and that could be even nastier than this has been because it can have a higher death rate than COVID-19,” he said. “However, there are three generations who are currently living through this virus—the elderly, the middle-aged and the young. So if we have another pandemic in our lifetime, we will all remember this and know what we have to do.” He says Australia’s fight against coronavirus has been outstanding. “It has been world-leading, no question about that,” he said. “The proof is in the cases, the virus is not circulating in high amounts and there is very little community transfer. “It’s a triumph, really, but not one that you can be complacent about.” Meanwhile, older Australians and aged care facilities remain vulnerable. “It depends on the quality of management and the vigilance in maintaining that,” he said. “It depends on staff training and equipment and not moving focus—none of us can let our guard down.” ■ Nick Way is Senior Media & Communications Advisor, Leading Age Services Australia.
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