COVID-19 update 313 | 06/01/2022
Louise O’Riordan Metro North Health Incident Controller
Dear Colleagues,
Today there are 10,332 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Queensland. While this number is high, it is also likely an underestimation of the true numbers of cases in the community.
Important updates in today’s message include:
- Changes to testing requirements
- RBWH Fever Clinic
- Returning COVID-19 impacted staff to work
Changes to testing requirements
Yesterday national cabinet agreed to a change in testing requirements to help ease pressure on testing clinics.
People with a positive Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) will no longer be required to get a PCR test.
RBWH Fever Clinic
The RBWH public fever clinic is closing at close of business today, 6 January 2022, to allow us to treat COVID-19 patients and protect other vulnerable patients who require healthcare.
From tomorrow, the clinic is relocating to a drive-through clinic at QUT Kelvin Grove. This clinic will be open from 8am to 8pm seven days a week.
Thank you to everyone who was worked to stand up the QUT clinic on such short notice, and a tremendous thank you to everyone who has worked in the RBWH Fever Clinic over the last two years.
Staff only COVID testing collection services continue to operate at the RBWH Education Centre and our other facilities. Please note that staff are able to attend any of these clinics, given many of our staff live closer to other facilities than the facility they work at.
- RBWH Education Centre, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4.15pm
- TPCH, located in Outpatients B (former Children’s Outpatients Department), Monday to Friday, 7am to 2pm
- Caboolture Hospital Staff Carpark, Monday to Sunday, 7.30am to 5pm
Returning COVID-19 impacted staff to work
In conjunction with the changes in testing requirements, a revision of the Guidelines for returning COVID-19 impacted staff to work, is being undertaken and will be circulated when finalised. In the interim please follow the directive Isolation for Diagnosed Cases of COVID-19 and Management of Close Contacts Direction (No. 2) | Queensland Health.
We are also in the process of standing up a COVID HR Hotline for impacted staff and line managers. More information will come on this shortly.
Additionally, work is underway on implementation of rapid antigen testing across Metro North.
Thank you for your patience as we work through these changes together.
Kind regards,
Louise O’Riordan
Metro North Health Incident Controller
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Current Metro North Health tier activated – Tier 3
Helpful links
- Upload evidence of your vaccine
- Qld Health contact tracing list
- Register for your vaccine
- Qld Health general COVID-19 page
- Metro North COVID-19 extranet
- COVID vidcast recordings on QHEPS
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 | ||||||
| 68 | 2 | 1 | 584 | 4 | 6 | 2948 | |
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 | ||||||
| 34 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 150 | |
*As at the above date
**Metro North Health has four 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.