Aboriginal man becomes first COVID death in regional NSW outbreak

An Aboriginal man from Dubbo has become the first person in regional New South Wales to die of COVID-19 during the state’s current outbreak.

The man, who is understood to have belonged to a prominent Dubbo family, was aged in his 50s with underlying health conditions and was in the intensive care unit at Dubbo’s hospital when he died. He was unvaccinated.

The man in his 50s died at the Dubbo Base Hospital. Credit:Janie Barrett

“Our sincere sympathies and thoughts go out to the family, friends, and broader Aboriginal community across Dubbo and the whole of the region,” said Scott McLachlan, chief executive of the Western NSW Local Health District.

“We know that people will die if the vaccines don’t get into arms, we know there is a lot of misinformation out there, there is a lot of opportunity for people to get vaccinated across western NSW.”

Wiradjuri woman Linda Burney, the shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, said the man’s death was preventable.

“He was a grand uncle who saw his grandchild just once, I saw that on a Facebook post from his niece this afternoon,” Ms Burney said.

“There is too little, too late in western NSW. We know that the federal government was warned back in March 2020 that this was going to be the outcome if they did not step in.”

51 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the state’s west, bringing the total number in the region to 561.

Around 65 per cent of those cases are Aboriginal people, who have been prioritised for the coronavirus vaccine rollout due to their vulnerable status.

Despite this, only 6.3 per cent of Indigenous people in western NSW are fully vaccinated, compared to a figure of 26 per cent for the general population.

“Over the next two, three, four weeks we’ve still got a significant challenge in front of us to get the 30,000 Aboriginal people across western NSW fully vaccinated,” Mr McLachlan said.

In Dubbo, the epicentre of the outbreak, just 9 per cent of the Indigenous population is fully vaccinated - although 31 per cent have had their first jab. That is compared to a rate of 64.5 per cent for first doses and 25.8 for second doses for the general Dubbo population.

The rates of Indigenous vaccinations across other local government areas in the health district also lag far behind those of the general population.

Coonamble has a full Indigenous vaccination rate of 20 per cent, Brewarrina 18 per cent, and Bourke 6 per cent.

The state’s chief health officer, Kerry Chant, urged Aboriginal community leaders to encourage people to get vaccinated.

“We’re particularly concerned about the case numbers in far west and western NSW because of the over-representation of Aboriginal people, and the likelihood that COVID will be - and is - touching Aboriginal people more disproportionately,” Dr Chant said.

Across NSW, more than 13,000 Aboriginal people have been vaccinated in the past week. However, only 12.5 per cent of the state’s total Indigenous population has had two jabs - a total of just over 33,000.

Nationally more than 116,000 Indigenous people over the age of 16 are now fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the state government has launched grants of up to $10,000 for Aboriginal organisations to support Indigenous communities during the state's outbreak and related lockdowns.

Organisations would be able to spend the money on a variety of social and mental health services, to help people access IT equipment to work and study from home, and to pay for essentials like urgent food and transportation.

“These quick response grants will help communities access local, culturally appropriate services so they are informed and supported to take actions like staying at home to reduce community transmission,” said Don Harwin, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt and Health Minister Greg Hunt did not immediately respond for comment.

Cameron Gooley is a Gamilaroi man and the Indigenous affairs reporter at the Sydney Morning Herald.

Share this post