Dear colleagues,

Happy Easter! Since the Easter Bunny was declared an essential worker, I hope you and all your families had a special visitor last night. For the first time since late January, for the last two days I’ve been able to switch off, rest, and spend some quality time with my husband, children and furry family members!  It has mostly been fun, apart from my spectacular downfall playing Monopoly.

I know many of you have been working as hard as ever these past few weeks and months. I really hope you are caring for yourself just as well as your care for our patients and community.

Just some quick updates for today:

• Workforce reallocation survey
• Updates to Queensland’s border closure
• Happy Easter!

Workforce reallocation survey

Thank you to everyone who responded to the recent Workforce Reallocation Survey, your willingness to assist is greatly appreciated. All responses have been shared with the relevant Directorate Workforce Coordinators who will manage reallocation – initially locally, and then across Directorates/Metro North as appropriate. They will contact you when the need arises. In the meantime, sit tight in your role, take the opportunity to finalise our preparations for COVID-19 and help prepare your department for the post COVID-19 healthcare environment.

We will be closing the online survey this Friday, 17 April and will continue to work directly with these coordinators to optimise our systems to manage our workforce needs.

Updates to Queensland’s border restrictions

To slow the spread of COVID-19, the Queensland Government is tightening entry into Queensland. It’s important to familiarise yourself with the new arrangements detailed in the Boarder restrictions Direction (No 4), including the new hotspots declared by the Chief Health Officer. Any Queensland residents or residents of a border community who have been in a hotspot in the last 14 days must self-quarantine. There are specific exemptions such as a request for the Queensland Chief Health Officer to present for duty in Queensland to perform health services. For more information regarding border restrictions, please visit the Queensland Government website.

Happy Easter! ? 

In years to come we will remember this Easter as one big staycation! Don’t forget, we’re all in this together. Our new numbers might be slowing down but this is no time to drop the ball – after all, we are still getting new cases! Stay home, wash your hands well and frequently, maintain excellent cough and sneeze hygiene, and practise good social distancing. But please also use today to switch off, forget about what the time is, and indulge in Easter treats! Without eggcellent staff like you, we wouldn’t have such a strong response to COVID-19, THANK YOU!!

If you want to stay updated over the long weekend, you can do so by visiting the Metro North COVID-19 extranet site.

Regards,

Dr Liz Rushbrook & Adjunct Professor Alanna Geary

Metro North Health Incident Controllers

Metro North HHS – Overview of Cases*

*With effect 1000 12 April 2020
**Metro North has two recorded deaths