The coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak leaves people with disabilities among the most at risk – ABC News

Updated March 20, 2020 10:12:35

Rayna Lamb has cerebral palsy and takes medication for a skin condition which suppresses her immune system. She is at such high risk of contracting coronavirus she has chosen to self-isolate.

"And I have a history of respiratory problems. So, yes, I want to keep as far away from this as possible," Ms Lamb said from over the fence of her home in the Perth suburb of Innaloo.

She is concerned people with a disability and chronically-ill people will be hit particularly hard by the virus outbreak and access to support services will be cut as the crisis worsens

Panic buying of groceries, hand sanitisers and other protective equipment, which her support workers need, also has her worried.

"People who can stockpile are the ones who are probably less at risk because they were able to rush out to the shops, whereas a lot of people with disabilities and chronic illnesses just can't do that," she said.

She's not alone. Disability advocates like People with Disabilities WA executive director Samantha Jenkinson, have called for support workers, as well as health staff, to have priority access to gloves, masks and other protective equipment.

"I can't actually get any of those things at the moment. So if they run out. I'm going to be really, really stuck," Ms Jenkinson, who uses a wheelchair, said.

Social distancing is not an option for people with a disability, who rely on support workers for daily living, including washing and dressing.

"We're talking about people with spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, sometimes people with intellectual disability, Down syndrome, that might need assistance with showering, with going to the toilet," Ms Jenkinson said.

"You can't have social distancing. So personal protective equipment is absolutely essential."

Ms Jenkinson has several support workers and said she was concerned there could be no-one to replace them if they got sick or needed to self-isolate.

"They know your routine, they know who you are, you have a relationship with them," Ms Jenkinson said.

"And so if they're needing to self-isolate, the actual time and effort of finding somebody else, finding the right person that's going to fit, as well as then training someone up from scratch again, is a huge effort for people with very high support needs who are going to be in that really high risk category."

She has called for a Federal Government assistance package for people in the disability workforce to ensure services continue and to support carers, many of whom have only casual jobs.

NDIS Minister Stuart Robert said there were plans to ensure NDIS participants and service providers were supported "and to ensure continuation of services in the case of an escalation in the incidence of COVID-19".

A meeting of state and territory disability ministers this week agreed to plan for workplace shortages and guarantee services.

The COAG (Council of Australian Governments) Disability Reform Council also agreed as a priority to ensure people with a disability and support workers had access to personal protective equipment.

In WA the McGowan Government has allowed an extra hour of shopping from 7:00am8:00am exclusively for vulnerable people, including people with a disability, to combat a wave of panic buying that has stripped shelves of stock.

But Ms Lamb said it was impossible for her to get to the shops so early.

She and other groups, such as the Health Consumers Council of WA, were also concerned about what would happen to people with disabilities if they were admitted to hospital with COVID-19.

"We know from what's been unfolding in Italy that over time we're going to get down to that point of triage in who gets care, and our concern is people with disabilities are going to go to the back of the queue," the council's executive director, Pip Brennan, said.

"It's really important for us as a society to value everybody equally."

Ms Lamb said she wanted to stay away from hospitals.

"[Our] lives have as much value as any able-bodied person's and I don't want to see any losses in our community because we're not treated as seriously and respectfully as other people."

The WA Health Department said it was committed to providing equitable care to all West Australians.

Topics: diseases-and-disorders, infectious-diseases-other, disabilities, cerebral-palsy, pharmaceuticals, carers, perth-6000, wa

First posted March 20, 2020 08:28:26

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The coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak leaves people with disabilities among the most at risk - ABC News