Dear colleagues,

I hope you all remained safe through the storms on the weekend. We had some positive news over the weekend, on Sunday 1 November Australia recorded zero community transmissions of COVID-19. This demonstrates the effectiveness and success of our infection control management, and of our hotel quarantine program.

As Australia increases its quota of international arrivals, our management of people in hotel quarantine remains particularly important. Additionally, the Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young has requested that anyone in hotel quarantine who returns a positive test be transferred and managed in a hospital. Due to this change, RBWH and TPCH have received four COVID-19 positive patients in the past 24 hours. Thank you for the teams who are caring for these patients.  Please note that this is no cause for alarm, and those treating the patients are well-equipped through infection control capability, PPE and resources.

Queensland border update

As of 1 am tomorrow, 3 November, residents in regional NSW will be able to enter Queensland without being required to quarantine. In addition to this, changes to Queensland’s border restrictions also mean that:

• Only 32 greater Sydney Local Government Areas will continue to be listed as COVID-19 hotspots in New South Wales (all of Victoria is still a hotspot)
• The border zone will be removed
• Children under the age of 12 will not be required to wear a face mask
• People can transfer through a hotspotby road as long as they stop only for essential fuel, supplies and to manage driver fatigue, wear a mask when stopping and don’t stay overnight in a hotspot
• People can fly to Queensland from Sydney airport

Please note that if you are eligible to enter Queensland, you still need to apply for a border pass. Queensland will be keeping its border closed to greater Sydney and Victoria until at least 1 December 2020.

Christmas staff gatherings

As we begin planning our Christmas and holiday events, please remain vigilant regarding the key aspects of preventing transmission of COVID-19, which includes hand washing, physical distancing, staying home when sick and good coughing and sneezing etiquette. If you have symptoms of any kind, do not attend and get tested.

Social gatherings such as Christmas parties organised by and for work teams must be compliant with the CHO’s Directions, including the Movement and Gathering Direction (No. 5) and the Restrictions on Businesses, Activities and Undertakings Direction (No. 8). For instance, this means that when a venue is being used for an event, it must have a COVID- safe approved plan in place.

Kind regards,

Michelle Stute
Metro North Incident Controller

Current MN Response Tier Activated – Tier 0

Metro North HHS – Overview of Cases*

*With effect 02 November 2020, 1000
**Metro North has three recorded deaths (one person a return traveller into NSW, who passed away in NSW)
*** These numbers reflect the cases being managed by Metro North.