❓ Mr. Kirkup asks the Minister for Health about the timeline for the COVID-19 DETECT program rollout in schools, specifically regarding asymptomatic testing for teachers. The Minister acknowledges delays and complexities, providing an estimated timeframe for student testing and expressing hope for early teacher testing.
AnsweredQoN 396Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
SCHOOLS — TESTING
396. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Minister for Health:
I have a supplementary question. I appreciate
the response from the minister, as comprehensive as it was. Does the minister
anticipate when the rollout of the original COVID-19 DETECT program might take
place, given those ethics hold-ups, and when teachers across Western Australia
might be able to access asymptomatic testing under DETECT Snapshot?
SCHOOLS — TESTING
396. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Minister for Health:
I have a supplementary question. I appreciate
the response from the minister, as comprehensive as it was. Does the minister
anticipate when the rollout of the original COVID-19 DETECT program might take
place, given those ethics hold-ups, and when teachers across Western Australia
might be able to access asymptomatic testing under DETECT Snapshot?
AnswerView source ↗
As the member may gather, I am
learning all about population research all the time. We are continuing to try
to meet the challenges of setting up a process, which usually takes between at
least six to 12 months, within three to four weeks. From the ethics approvals
process, we are now in the schools seeking permission from parents and will
hopefully get that testing going as soon as possible. It has taken longer than
I thought it would and it has been more complex than I thought it would be. My
understanding is that from final ethics approval, which was achieved at the end
of last week, and maybe into Monday, it will take about two weeks to get the
swabbing going for the kids—so the week after next. But as I said, we
would like to get swabbing going early for the teachers if we can make that
part of the asymptomatic process. A whole bunch of things impact on the
scientific process, including the random preselection of sample groups and
those who have and have not given permission and so on. This is a lot more
complicated than I ever thought it would be. We are going to take a shorter
route, but an additional route, which will provide that extra channel of
opportunity for testing through asymptomatic testing under the COVID-19 DETECT
Snapshot program.
learning all about population research all the time. We are continuing to try
to meet the challenges of setting up a process, which usually takes between at
least six to 12 months, within three to four weeks. From the ethics approvals
process, we are now in the schools seeking permission from parents and will
hopefully get that testing going as soon as possible. It has taken longer than
I thought it would and it has been more complex than I thought it would be. My
understanding is that from final ethics approval, which was achieved at the end
of last week, and maybe into Monday, it will take about two weeks to get the
swabbing going for the kids—so the week after next. But as I said, we
would like to get swabbing going early for the teachers if we can make that
part of the asymptomatic process. A whole bunch of things impact on the
scientific process, including the random preselection of sample groups and
those who have and have not given permission and so on. This is a lot more
complicated than I ever thought it would be. We are going to take a shorter
route, but an additional route, which will provide that extra channel of
opportunity for testing through asymptomatic testing under the COVID-19 DETECT
Snapshot program.
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