Take advantage of the quiet time to catch up on local news and be updated on what’s happening in your local area but remember to look after each other by following the health and hygiene guidelines.
Last Wednesday 25 March, Coonamble Shire Council hosted a meeting of local leaders of health and emergency services, along with school representatives and other key agencies.
In order to maintain the strict distancing rules, the meeting was convened in the Coonamble Showground Pavilion with chairs spaced well apart and no sharing of the microphone.
Some service providers were unable to attend due to policies in their organisations prohibiting face-to-face meetings and others were deterred by the wild storm that arrived just prior to the meeting which commenced at 2.30pm.
After being welcomed by the Mayor, Ahmed Karanouh, Council’s General Manager Hein Basson addressed the meeting to share information from video meetings held with Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Monday 23 and with the Western NSW Local Health District on the morning of 25 March.
He reiterated the key messages of “how to combat the spread of Covid-19” and explained that a “flatter curve lasts longer but with less loss of life, which allows health services to cope with demand.”
“In 80% of cases people won’t develop serious symptoms,” Mr Basson said. “Around 15% will have more serious symptoms but will recover at home and about 5% will need more medical treatment and hospitalisation.”
At that time 15 cases had been confirmed across the Western NSW LHD but numbers were not available for local government areas.
This has since been adjusted, with daily reports on confirmed cases of Coronavirus now being made publicly available for each council area.
While the Coonamble local government area is yet to see a confirmed diagnosis, Coonamble Health Services Manager Libby Burnheim said it was “just a matter of time.”
“All communities will have cases in the next couple of weeks,” Ms Burnheim said.
“The strong message is that we all need to assume Covid-19 is already in our community and act accordingly.”
David Maher, Office in Charge of Police for Northern sector Orana Mid Western Police District, reinforced this.
“You have to presume that everyone beside you has Covid-19,” Mr Maher said.
All local agencies are enforcing strict controls and there is a real focus on protecting the more vulnerable members of the community which includes the elderly and those with reduced immunity.
“We have identified 189 people as vulnerable,” Ms Burnheim said. “They include residents of Koonambil, those in Hospital and out in the community.”
“We also include young children from 0-2000 days old as vulnerable,” she said.
The importance of practising the recommended containment measures was emphasised as health and aged care services cannot protect everyone in the community.
“We need people to be looking out for their neighbours and taking care of each other,” Mr Maher said.
“If you have flu symptoms – don’t go anywhere.”
Mr Maher said he was very impressed with the response of Coonamble businesses to the current Level 2 restrictions.
“This community is having a very proactive response,” Mr Maher said. “We are in a very positive place at the moment but it is going to hit every area.”
“We will be going to Level 3 at some point,” Mr Maher said. “We won’t know until the Prime Minister speaks just what we will have to implement the next day.”
Reported breaches of isolation, for those waiting for test results or who have been confirmed as having the virus, will be dealt with by Police or Coonamble Shire Council.
“Police have new powers and can fine people for breaches of self-isolation,” Mr Maher said.
For individuals this means an $11,000 fine with $5500 every additional day after and for businesses breaching gathering or distancing limits the fine is $55,000 and $27,000 per day afterwards.
Representatives from NSW Fire & Rescue, Koonambil Aged Care, NSW Ambulance and schools outlined their current restrictions and discussed capacity to deal with a crisis.
In order to keep lines of communication open and ensure specific local information is shared effectively, Council intends to host further meetings each week, involving essential and community services, and are investigating their options for online video meetings.