The family at the centre of a COVID-19 cluster in Melbourne's north are so devastated and shaken by the situation, they have considered leaving the area, the principal of East Preston Islamic College says.
The college and Dallas Brooks Community Primary School have temporarily closed, and hundreds of potential contacts are in isolation, after a year five boy tested positive for the virus.
A mix-up led to the child attending the Islamic College on Monday and Tuesday, prompting doctors and community leaders to question whether health authorities were providing clear communication to coronavirus cases from multicultural communities.
The child's two siblings had been positive cases, but a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) last week cleared them of having the disease and allowed them to leave isolation.
However, as a close contact, the year five student was meant to keep quarantining, which the family did not realise. He tested positive to the virus on Wednesday.
English is the family's second language, and it's not clear if DHHS used a translator when communicating with them.
Doctor says patients are often confused by department
GP Catherine Orr, who has treated dozens of coronavirus patients from multicultural communities, said that the DHHS had never to her knowledge used translation services when in contact with her patients — neither in verbal nor written communication.
"I know DHHS say they use interpreters and have access to interpreters, but not one of those 100 [positive cases] who I've treated have had an interpreter," Dr Orr said
"They never got an SMS or letter in any other language than English. The [DHHS] certificate to release people from isolation is in English."
Dr Orr said her patients were often extremely confused by the information the DHHS provided. This was especially true when there were multiple people living in the one house — some who were isolating because they were infected, and others who were quarantining because they were close contacts.
Patients often brought personalised DHHS correspondence or text messages to her clinic, and she would then ring a translator to communicate the information to her patients, Dr Orr said.
Dr Orr said her clinic used an interpreter for all of her verbal communication with patients who had English as an additional language.
Family did nothing wrong, says principal
East Preston Islamic College principal Ekrem Ozurek said he believed the DHHS should have interpreters available to avoid confusion.
He said the family of the year five student believed all their children were cleared to attend school.
"The family did the right thing and brought the letter of clearance from DHHS [for the two positive children]. They've done nothing wrong. They did the best they can."
Mr Ozurek said the child's father was struggling with guilt because the school had now been closed, and had flagged moving his family to a different area.
"I assured him that this could happen to anyone and he shouldn't go anywhere, he should try to return to his normal life when he can," Mr Ozurek said.
The DHHS did not answer the ABC's questions about whether a translator was used in the East Preston college case, but said translators were regularly used when needed.
"Our contact tracers work with specific interpreters to ensure clear communication with positive cases. There are also letters for cases and contacts … translated into appropriate languages," the department said in a statement.
"Our outreach teams also include people of cultural backgrounds and translators are always made available to those who need it."
Schools will now be told of cases
Yesterday, the DHHS said it would now directly inform schools about all students who should be isolating — both those who are infected, and contacts who should be quarantining.
Asked why this was not in place earlier, DHHS testing commander Jeroen Weimar said such processes were difficult to implement when case numbers were larger.
"If you look at the history and how we've dealt with these outbreaks, we're continuing to step up our response as we get to a smaller number of cases," Mr Weimar said.
On Thursday, Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said the family had been dealing with multiple DHHS officers and that may have also led to the confusion.
Professor Cheng said, in future, single case managers would be assigned to families to avoid mixed messages.
'They really need to simplify their messages'
A community worker in the northern suburbs, who did not want to be named, told the ABC there was still confusion throughout the community around COVID-19 processes — and not just among multicultural groups.
He pointed out that on Wednesday the DHHS told close contacts of the year five child to isolate for 14 days, but not to get tested until the 11th day, which is standard procedure for close contacts because of the virus's incubation period.
But in the daily press conference on Friday, Mr Weimar urged all students of the school to get tested immediately.
"It is confusing," the community worker said. "But it's been like that with everything from the beginning.
He said the State Government had "come a long way" since public housing towers were locked down in July, "but they really need to simplify their messages".
Terminology 'hasn't been properly explained'
Adel Salmon from the Islamic Council of Victoria agreed, and questioned some of the language authorities were using.
This week, Professor Cheng said he believed the mix-up in the East Preston Islamic College case may have come from confusion between the terms 'isolate' and 'quarantine'.
The DHHS has been using the term 'isolate' for people who test positive, and 'quarantine' for people who are close contacts and need to stay at home because they may develop COVID-19 during the quarantine period.
"The difference between the terms hasn't been properly explained," Mr Salmon said
"Is that an English-as-a-second-language issue, or another issue?"
Hass Dellal, the head of the Australian Multicultural Foundation, said the Government was getting better at disseminating general information in language. But he said more tailored communication, such as use of translators, needed to be used when dealing with people who tested positive.
"Sometimes it's not about being in language — it's about being clear," Dr Dellal said.
"It's about more than 'wash your hands' and 'social distancing' … I think we get that now."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEwLTI0L2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLXZpY3RvcmlhLXByZXN0b24tY29sbGVnZS1mYW1pbHktZGV2YXN0YXRlZC8xMjgwOTAwNtIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjgwOTAwNg?oc=5
2020-10-23 20:31:00Z
52781140527575
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Victorian family 'devastated' after boy unknowingly took coronavirus to Melbourne school, principal says - ABC News"
Post a Comment