Please petition your local MP to protect our healthcare workers and community!

Urgent upgrades of respiratory protection are needed (elasometric and PAPR) for all Australian Healthcare Workers, as well as improved ventilation in all public settings;  HEPA filters in hospitals, schools, aged care facilities and prisons.

Studies show a combination of HEPA air cleaners and universal masking reduced exposure to Covid-19 by up to 90% *

As of Aug 30, 2021, ventilation systems in Parliament House (Canberra) have been ‘upgraded’ before politicians return to work**, how about our healthcare workers, children and their teachers? What is happening with ‘upgrading’ ventilation systems in our nation’s hospitals, classrooms and aged care facilities?

Despite overwhelming evidence to support airborne, or aerosol transmission of Covid-19, this has not translated into appropriate or effective public health or infection control measures in Australia.

Australia currently lags behind Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand the UK and the US in it's approach, and despite global recognition of the importance of improved ventilation, the Australian Government has not produced any guidance or mandated relevant standards to reduce infection control, particularly in healthcare settings. ***

This has resulted in Covid-19 outbreaks in hospitals inTasmania, across regional Victoria and NSW, Melbourne and Sydney. 

We demand URGENT ACTION:

-Improved respiratory protection for all healthcare workers (elasometric and PAPR)

-mandated ventilation assessment and upgrades in all public institutions: hospitals, schools, childcare and aged care facilities and prisons.

Add your signature now, and feel free to copy and paste this letter and send it to your local member.

* Wang, Chia C., Kimberly A. Prather, Josué Sznitman, Jose L. Jimenez, Seema S. Lakdawala, Zeynep Tufekci, and Linsey C. Marr. 2021. "Airborne Transmission Of Respiratory Viruses". Science 373 (6558): eabd9149. doi:10.1126/science.abd9149.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd9149
William G. Lindsley, Efficacy of Portable Air Cleaners and Masking for Reducing Indoor Exposure to Simulated Exhaled SARS-CoV-2 Aerosols — United States, 2021 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7027e1.htm

** Smith, Alexandra. 2021. "Sydney COVID: Pfizer Vaccine Prioritised For Eastern Suburbs As Cases Spread In Record Numbers". Smh.Com.Au. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/eastern-suburbs-to-get-pfizer-priority-as-covid-19-cases-spread-in-record-numbers-20210829-p58mxc.html.

***Hyde, Zoë, David Berger, and Andrew Miller. 2021. "Australia Must Act To Prevent Airborne Transmission Of SARS‐Cov‐2". Medical Journal Of Australia 215 (1): 7. doi:10.5694/mja2.51131, quoted in an open letter by Healthcare Workers of Australia National action on Aerosol transmission of Covid-19
https://healthcareworkersaustralia.com/national-action-on-aerosol-transmission-of-covid-19/