AMA (NSW) President: stay home, save lives this Easter

AMA (NSW) President, Dr Kean-Seng Lim, is asking people not go away on holiday over the Easter break this year.

“The Government has already made the appeal for people to stay at home this Easter and the authorities will try to stop you from holidaying.

“I’m asking you not to travel because it’s the right thing to do – it will help save lives.

“As individuals, this sort of collective effort is a thankless task and you won’t know if your own action actually saved a life or not.

“Similarly, if you choose to go out, you may never know that it was your actions that led to someone’s infection or even death from COVID-19.

“But you might, it might be made very obvious to you, and that’s not something you’d want to live with.

“The key word here really is collective; together, if we stay home, we definitely will help slow the spread of coronavirus, flatten the curve, and save lives.

“And if you go on holiday, you do the opposite and you increase the risk for everyone.

“With COVID-19, there are very few things that are simple.

“For example, if I were to be infected with the virus and then choose to go on holiday because I feel fine but I’m actually contagious.

“It is not just a simple case of me being likely to transmit it to two to three other people – because it is roughly twice as contagious as the flu.

“How will the local resources of wherever I happen to be cope with my coronavirus case, if I need treatment – how will it cope with those of the people I’ve infected?

“Beyond that it becomes a question of how many of those people would also pass it on to another two or three others.

“How many of them will die, how many will get sick enough to require hospital treatment, how long will they be there, how many of them will be health workers, how much protective equipment will be used that could have otherwise been conserved, and so on.

“Hospital resources are in short supply and if we get to a point where they are overcrowded or protective equipment runs low, we will see the numbers of deaths from COVID-19 increase.

“However, the choice between being selfless and selfish has rarely been so binary.

“I recommend you choose the correct one and stay home and save lives.” Dr Lim said.

Media contact: Lachlan Jones 0419 402 955