Community must take COVID-19 seriously: BRAMS boss

As you are probably aware, we now have the first confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Kimberley region.

It is important that you keep up to date with the latest health advice from officials, which can be found online at health.gov.au.

If you don’t have internet, then listen to the radio news, watch the television, and read the newspaper. Tell your friends and family.

Follow the messages about washing your hands regularly, avoid physical contact, and stay at home unless it’s absolutely necessary.

This will help stop the spread of the virus and protect you and your family from getting sick.

Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service will continue to provide health services to the community, and our clinic remains open.

We are also now running a telephone health service, which allows us to do consultations over the phone. This is the best way for us to treat you at the moment.

If you do need to come into the clinic, we have strict measures in place to ensure patients and staff remain physically distant from one another, to limit contact as much as possible.

This will help ensure BRAMS continues to remain free of COVID-19.

If you have any of the following symptoms, you must call ahead to the clinic before coming in:

Fever

Coughing

Sore throat

Fatigue;

Shortness of breath.

COVID-19 can make you very sick and the community needs to take this issue seriously.

The best way to stay healthy and protect your family is to follow the official advice.

If you have any questions, call BRAMS on 9192 1338 and a staff member will call you back to discuss your concerns.

You can also call the National Coronavirus Hotline on 1800 020 080.

Cassie Devereux is the chief executive at Broome Regional Aboriginal Medical Service