The Labor party has welcomed the fact Tasmania now has much greater capacity for testing for COVID-19 but urges the Government to make sure this capacity is used.
Labor Leader, Rebecca White, said it is concerning that less than half of Tasmania's COVID-19 testing capacity is currently being fulfilled.
"The Government must take a more proactive approach to testing for COVID-19. Fulfilling only half of Tasmania's testing capacity is a missed opportunity for the state to get a clear picture of the spread of the virus more quickly," Ms White said.
"The sooner Public Health officials feel confident we have control of this virus, the sooner we can lift some of the current restrictions.
"Labor has been calling for the Government to conduct randomised testing, including among frontline health workers and people who do not have symptoms.
"We know it can take up to 14 days for COVID-19 symptoms to show and in up to 50% of positive COVID-19 cases in Australia, patients have shown no symptoms, which is a clear sign we need to also people who are asymptomatic.
"Setting up testing stations in places such as supermarkets and retail outlets is another measure the Government could be taking so that Public Health can get a wider picture of the spread of the virus across the state.
"It is also so important that Tasmanians continue to follow advice from public health to ensure we don't undo all the great work by the community over the past few months.
"With a slowdown in the number of cases, I can understand why people are starting to relax but it is too soon for people to resume normal activities just yet.
"The most important thing we can do now is work together and keep following public health advice and make sure we get on top of this virus.
"Implementing randomised testing in places where people are gathering would be a useful way to reach more people and also serve as a visual reminder to shoppers that we aren't through this yet."
Rebecca White MP
Tasmanian Labor Leader
