Dear colleagues,

Happy Friday! In the last 24 hours Queensland recorded just two new positive COVID-19 cases. Both are in West Moreton and were already in quarantine when testing positive and are also close contacts of previous cases. Public Health are performing contact tracing for the new cases.

We are cognisant that there have been some very emotional situations in the media this week regarding decisions made that impact people in quarantine and are distressing to the general community. Please, try to remember that the decisions made by our government and Chief Health Officer are difficult for them but more importantly that they are made to protect our community. A vidcast participant put it best today when they commented:

“There are some people who will unfortunately be significantly affected by some of the decisions made. The reality is that in a distressed state most people believe that they should be exempt from the recommendations. I have compassion for them but also for the people who have to make and then standby the very unpopular and difficult decisions that they have to make to try to keep us safe, because the alternative is potentially worse.’

Remember, the people making these decisions, our Premier, Chief Health Officer and their advisors are people too and are under a huge amount of stress. Seeing the extreme comments by the media and across social media is disappointing. Please, be kind, take a broad perspective and exercise your compassion and understanding.

Further updates today are:

• Metro North Tiered Response
• Mask disposal
• Cleaning

Metro North’s Tiered Response

As many of you will be aware by now, Metro North is taking a tiered approach to our pandemic response. A participant in today’s vidcast asked us to specify in each daily Incident Controller message which tier we sit on and link to the documentation online that outlines the various tiers. From now on we will place this information at the bottom of our messages near the daily numbers and link to the Tiered Plan online.

We are currently at Tier two minus. Here, the ‘minus’ simply means we are implementing some elements of tier two but not others such as reducing clinical activity. Tier two includes universal mask wearing across all facilities. As Jackie said in this morning’s Vidcast, we will reassess our tier this coming Monday and depending on what happens in the Brisbane Metropolitan community this weekend, we may be able to move back to Tier one plus. YES, this includes potentially ceasing universal mask wearing and our concierges.

Please be mindful our next step is entirely reliant on what happens within our community. Do the right thing, continue to physically distance, wash your hands, wear your mask on public transport, wash your hands and IF YOU’RE SICK STAY HOME. Even if you’ve been tested for COVID and returned a negative response, stay home until you are asymptomatic.

Mask Disposal

A very disappointing comment made in today’s vidcast and in a few recent emails was that staff and patients are disposing of their masks on the ground. Both myself and Jackie Hanson were appalled by this, I fail to understand when littering ever became ok. We have bins stationed all over our campuses for mask disposal. As we have said many times MASKS CAN BE DISPOSED IN GENERAL BINS, they do not need to go into clinical waste bins. Please, be a good human and do the right thing by our environment. Once masks are in our waste bins, we have sound processes that ensure they do not adversely impact on the environment.

Cleaning

If you feel there are issues relating to cleaning and access to wipes or other products at your facility, please refer your feedback or questions to your facility director or local EOC.

Make it a great weekend and for those working, thank you for manning the fort.

Kind regards,
Mark Butterworth
Metro North Incident Commander

Metro North HHS – Overview of Cases*

*With effect 11 September 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.