Grey nomads told to go home

Rural doctors are calling on grey nomads across Australia to return home, or if they're already at home, to remain there, as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to spread to ill-equipped rural communities.

Rural Doctors Association of Australia president, Dr John Hall, said that reports of 'grey nomads' still roaming throughout the bush were disturbing.

“We have had reports of convoys of grey nomads moving out into rural communities and quite frankly, that’s not acceptable,” Dr Hall said.

“We can only assume that they see this as a way of keeping themselves safe, but we can assure them it is absolutely not the way to go about it."

Dr Hall said RV travellers that don't need to be on the road or have alternative accommodation are "exposing other communities, as well as other travellers within the grey nomad community, by potentially circulating the virus".

He said an influx of RV travellers to small towns would also drain "local resources when it comes to both medical supplies and groceries".

"Many rural towns are finding it hard enough to resupply, without an influx of travellers adding to the burden,” he said.

“Travellers are actually putting themselves at risk in rural areas, because they might find themselves in a country hospital that is already at capacity and may find they are not able to access the essential care needed if they become seriously unwell."

However, the Caravan Industry Association of Australia is urging governments to keep caravan parks and campgrounds around Australia open as an 'essential service', estimating that more than 100,000 people including full-time RV travellers either rely on them for on-the-road accommodation or as a permanent place of residence.

Many campgrounds and caravan parks around Australia have had to close their doors in recent days due to the coronavirus crisis, or in some cases are only accepting fully self-contained RVs.

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