Double standard?

Last week, ABC Australia reported a news that Health and government authorities approved the family to fly in on a privately-funded medevac flight from Indonesia two weeks ago, despite calls to limit the number of international arrivals. SA Health has confirmed the family has the highly infectious Delta strain.

Seemed unusual and unfair

It was the first medevac flight of its kind to enter SA since the pandemic began — but SA Health said it was common practice interstate. COVID-positive patients have previously been denied the right to board repatriation flights back to Australia.

Sunny Joura, who was stranded in India because he returned a false positive before being due to board a repatriation flight, but has since returned to Australia. He said while he was happy that people in need of treatment had been allowed to come back home, the decision appeared to fly in the face of calls to limit the number of international arrivals and was “quite unfair”.

‘Standard procedure’ to allow medevac flights

SA Premier Steven Marshall said it was most likely to be an insurance-funded medevac. Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said what had occurred was a “standard medevac retrieval”. That’s organised between the hospitals. He added that it is a charter flight, a small flight, medical retrieval plane that goes and receives them. A hospital to hospital transfer, so the initial contact will be made between the hospital where that person is and in the state Royal Adelaide Hospital.

No absolute right or wrong

It is understandable that Mr Joura argued the action of SA Health seemed fairly unacceptable and unfair to other stranded Australian. Even so, SA Health does have the right to accept any emergency medical evacuation on special occasion situations. The flight was an insurance-funded medevac, small and a hospital to hospital transfer, the risk of virus transmission of the family is adequately low as they won’t expose in a large group. Australia values human rights, it is reasonable to approve the enquiry under the evaluation the low risks of this family could bring. However, the rights of other Australian should not also be left in the basket by the government. The move has seemingly been arguable and created a double standard towards to ethnic community.