COVID-19 update 345 | 06/02/2022
Dear colleagues,
- Boosters
- Fit testing and fit checking
Today there are 5,746 reported new cases of COVID-19 in Queensland. The Chief Health Officer also reported that there has been a substantial reduction in COVID-19 hospitalisations since yesterday which is good news.
Boosters
Staff are encouraged to get their boosters when eligible to do so, as they play an important role in reducing the severity of COVID. Boosters are available at all Metro North vaccination clinics.
This week ATAGI recommended COVID boosters for 16 and 17 year olds three months after their second dose. In response to this, we hosted some pop up clinics at Moreton Downs State School and Undurba State School this weekend in the lead up to school starting back tomorrow. A big thanks to the staff who supported the delivery of these clinics.
We will be setting up some Saturday pop ups at high schools in the coming weeks to help get this cohort boosted.
Find the details of your nearest vaccination centre at the Queensland Health vaccination locations page.
Steps for recording your booster are available on the extranet.
Fit testing and fit checking
Metro North Health continues to prioritise fit testing for all our frontline staff. Please check the fit testing schedule on the extranet for local information.
The National Guideline, referenced in the Queensland Health guideline, recommends that you do a fit check every time you don an N95 mask to ensure you have a good seal. In an emergent situation, if your fitted mask cannot be located, please escalate to your team leader/hospital coordinator. A fit checked P2/N95 can be worn, as a last resort, until you are fit tested. You should not participate in aerosol generating procedures if you are not wearing a fit tested mask.
Have you been fit tested at a different HHS to where you currently work? You might not need to be fit tested again, if:
- you have your fit testing report
- you were fit tested in the past 12 months
- your facial features have not changed significantly
- you were fit tested to a mask available in your current HHS.
You can show your line manager a copy of your fit test report and have this information recorded in the system. You don’t need to have another fit test.
If you have any concerns about fit testing, you can submit them via the fit testing feedback portal. Urgent issues should be escalated to your supervisor and local EOC for resolution.
Regards,
Sam Betros
Metro North Health Incident Controller
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Current Metro North Health tier activated – Tier 4
Helpful links
Metro North HHS – overview of cases*
| Patients managed by HHS | Fever clinics | ||||||
| Total in-patients | Virtual ward/ HITH/ similar | Deaths** | No. of clinics | Presentations | |||
| Total | ICU patients | Total*** | |||||
| ICU not ventilated | ICU ventilated | ||||||
| 119 | 2 | 2 | 579 | 19 | 7 | 679 | |
Norfolk Island – overview of cases****
| Patients managed by HHS | Close Contacts in quarantine | ||||||
| Total in-patients | Virtual ward/ HITH/ similar | Total cases including recovered | Deaths | ||||
| Total | ICU patients | ||||||
| ICU not ventilated | ICU ventilated | ||||||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 77 | 0 | 1 | |
*As at the above date
**Metro North Health has 19 recorded deaths (one person a return traveller into NSW, who passed away in NSW)
*** These numbers reflect the cases being managed by Metro North Health.
**** As part of an Intergovernmental Agreement, from 1 January 2022 Metro North Health is providing a number of health support services to Norfolk Island. This includes advice and support to staff on island in terms of managing COVID patients. The numbers in this section of the table refer to COVID patients who remain on Norfolk Island and are receiving direct care by staff on Norfolk Island.