Dear colleagues,

Exciting news today as we are now in our eighth day without any community transmission. Queensland recorded zero cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, with our active cases dropping down to 25 as people recover.

Yesterday saw 5,751 Queenslanders come forward for testing. It is great to see large numbers continuing to come forward. This has been an integral part of keeping down our community transmission. We continue to urge anyone with symptoms, no matter how mild, to come forward and get tested.

There are so many teams across the organisation doing tremendous work for our COVID-19 response. Today I would like to give a shout out to all our staff working in fever clinics, concierge and EOCs across the organisation. Thank you for your hard work and long hours. Every one of you are a crucial part of our response to COVID-19.

Queensland border update

The announcement was made this morning that from Friday 25 September at 1am, Queensland’s boarders will be opened to travellers from the ACT. This will be contingent on the ACT having no new cases between now and that date.  Travellers will be required to comply with Public Health Direction – Border Restrictions Direction (No.13).

Aerosol Generating Behaviours (AGB) work group 

The Metro North EOC is calling for expressions of interest from clinicians to form a workgroup to develop COVID-19 plans and guidelines for management of patients who have Aerosol Generating Behaviours (AGBs). Within the context of COVID-19, AGBs such as shouting or coughing are observed in patients who have severe respiratory distress, dementia, cognitive impairments and mental health conditions. The workgroup will require multidisciplinary representation from clinicians such as infectious disease specialists, respiratory physicians, psychologists, mental health clinicians and geriatricians.

If you are interested in joining the AGB working group please email the Incident Commander: EOC-MetroNorth@health.qld.gov.au.

Social distancing

Although the number of cases in our community remain low, now is not the time to drop the ball with our COVID-19 safe practices. Please remember that the 1.5m social distancing rule is critical unless providing patient care where this is not possible. Sometimes, letting someone know they are not adhering to the 1.5m rule can be tricky. Liz Rushbrook’s pool noodle trick is very handy, though we don’t all have pool noodles lying around.  You might need to ask someone “Would you mind stepping back, so we are 1.5m apart”. You could say “Let’s make sure we physically distance”. Or, as RBWH Executive Director of Medical Services, Mark Mattiussi suggested, you could sing the line from the Police’s famous song “Don’t Stand So Close to Me.”  I’ve provided the link below if you’d like to refresh your memory of the song.

Have a great weekend everyone, if you get the chance be sure to take a break and unwind! I will check in again with you all tomorrow.

Kind regards,

Michelle Stute

Metro North Incident Controller

Current MN Response Tier Activated – Tier Two minus

Metro North HHS – Overview of Cases*

*With effect 18 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.