Three Adelaide-based specialists prevented from working in Victoria

A spokesman for WWHS said three specialists, who would normally fly in from Adelaide on a regular basis, have been prevented from conducting normal work in Nhill.

"West Wimmera Health Service is directly affected by the border closing," the spokesman said.

"Our specialists would come in for several days each fortnight to see patients, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they would have to self-isolate for two weeks after each visit, which is highly impractical.

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"We were expecting the restrictions between South Australia and Victoria to be lifted in July; however, due to the recent outbreaks of COVID-19, I don't think that will happen."

The specialists - an ophthalmologist, orthopedic surgeon and heart specialist - were forced to postpone all elective surgeries.

"We have 30 people's surgeries just for the orthopedic surgeon put on hold during this pandemic, which has lengthened an already lengthy waiting list.

"These people have already waited six to 12 months, and now they are waiting indefinitely.

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"There should be flexibility with closing the border.

"We are in a low-risk area of the state.

"Why continue to delay critical services for an already aging population?"

Earlier this week, Lowan MP Emma Kearny threw her support behind calls for regional communities with no active COVID-19 cases to have restrictions relaxed compared to Melbourne.

It follows the Victorian government tightening coronavirus restrictions on Monday in response to a spike in new positive tests, where it had previously planned to relax them further on the same day.

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