Dear colleagues,

You’ll notice in our numbers today that even as Queensland’s cases slowly rises, our recovered cases continue to grow. With so much focus on COVID-19 positive patients, we should be celebrating patients’ recoveries too! I have a few updates for you today:

• Clarification of testing criteria
• PPE donations
• Properly using Riskman for COVID-19 incidents

Clarification of testing criteria

As the COVID-19 situation changes day by day, it can be hard to keep abreast of changes. As you know there were updates to the testing criteria this week and I’d like to clarify exactly what we need to be looking for when patients present to our assessment clinics.

The clinics are for people who have:

• been overseas in the past 14 days OR
• been in contact with someone with a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19 OR
• have disembarked from a cruise ship in the last 14 days OR
• are a healthcare worker, aged care or residential aged care worker OR
• live in Brisbane, Cairns or the Gold Coast OR
• live in an area where an outbreak as occurred OR
• live in a First Nations community.

AND

• have a fever (or history of fever) OR acute respiratory infection including sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, with or without fever)

I hope this clears up any confusion. Staff on the frontline truly are doing an extraordinary job. We rely on your teamwork, compassion, commitment and skills day in, day out. Thank you for powering on it is most appreciated!

PPE donations

We’ve seen communities all over the world donate their time and resources to help healthcare staff get by through this time. From free coffees to a simple ‘thank you’, the community are doing everything they can to assist our response.

I’ve become aware of people sewing and donating PPE items such as masks and caps. Although this is incredibly kind and thoughtful, please note that we cannot accept home-sewn masks or caps. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who wants to help, and the best way they can do this is by staying home, covering coughs and sneezes, practising social distancing and by checking in on vulnerable people in their local communities.

If you know of anyone helping in this way, you might like to suggest that they donate their hand-sewn items to people in their community, rather than healthcare staff.

Properly using Riskman

To ensure all COVID-19 related incidents and feedback is consistently captured and reported through Riskman, we ask all reporters to add ‘COVID-19’ in the Incident or Feedback ‘Summary’ data field. To best protect yourselves and your colleagues, incidents and feedback must be properly recorded. Please refer to the step by step guidelines and if you have any questions, please speak with your Line Manager.

If you’re at home today, I hope you’re enjoying a well-deserved break! During challenging times like these it’s important to spend quality time with your loved ones and to ensure you look after yourself. Please use the MN extranet website and keep a check in on your wellbeing.  Today Good Friday I am very much looking forward to seeing two of my grandfurr babies Bear and George when I get home (and I had better try and keep them 1.5 m apart)!  It is those who provide us unconditional love who are most important in difficult times and it is often the simple things that keep us happy and motivated.

For those of you who are working today, THANK YOU! Whatever your role is, you are essential and you are such a valued member of the amazing Metro North team responding to COVID-19.

Regards,

Dr Liz Rushbrook & Adjunct Professor Alanna Geary

Metro North Health Incident Controllers

Metro North HHS – Overview of Cases*

*With effect 1000 10 April 2020
**Metro North has two recorded deaths