Health and community services on the APY Lands are stretched to the limit as a COVID-19 outbreak grows to 84 cases because of non-compliance with restrictions, its general manager claims.
Richard King said around 255 people were in isolation on the Lands while a smaller group with comorbidities was isolating closer to specialist services.
Mr King attributed the outbreak and community transmission to a minority of people who were not complying with restrictions.
"Like everywhere, we have a number of people who are very compliant and do the right thing, but there are always a couple who like to go and visit everybody in the night when it's dark, and that's what's happening, unfortunately.
Mr King said the biggest challenge was how to manage a small group of people who were not used to complying with restrictions, adding that swift action was needed.
He said overcrowded housing was another issue being addressed, but pandemic fatigue posed another factor in people not following directions despite "good" messaging from health authorities.
"We're going to have to deal with them like how we deal with those in the city who don't comply and take them out of circulation, because those people are making it hard for the rest of the people who are complying with the regulation and rules."
Services under strain
Mr King said while additional support was welcome, what they really needed was people to do the right thing because the staff were tired.
One of those service providers is the Regional Anangu Services Aboriginal Corporation (RASAC) which has been tasked with delivering 260 meals to people across the Lands.
"That's breakfast, lunch and tea, so you can imagine the volume of food just moving daily from stores to various homes," RASAC general manager Mark Jackman said.
He said all of his 120 staff were being utilised and there was good coordination and communication with SA Health, SA Police and state and federal governments to respond to problems as they arose.
"It is a strain, it's a strain on our staff, and I'm talking Aboriginal Anangu staff and non-Aboriginal staff, but they've all teamed together and are working extremely well."
Compliance needed despite cultural complications
Mr Jackman also said compliance was an issue but people had to remember that cultural and language differences added another layer of complexity.
He said on the Lands the concept of house meant different things to people and there were strong family obligations that people felt they needed to fulfil.
"Those sorts of [family] responsibilities — they're making it a little more difficult but at the same time we need that compliance."
He said more creativity was needed to get messages out in language but that it was complicated because many Anangu people did not read Pitjantjatjara, originally a spoken language.
"We're dealing with a group of people where English is a second, third or fourth language, so the more information we can get in language, the better it is, but that's probably complicated a bit because [Pitjantjatjara] is not a written language either."
