Dear colleagues,

Well today is my first day back from a most welcomed two week holiday. I must admit while I didn’t really go anywhere it was so lovely having a staycation and for any of you who have had one or are going to have one in the not so distant future, I would highly recommend it!!!

I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed the beautiful winter weather we’ve been experiencing lately. Queensland has recorded its first new COVID-19 case in almost a week, bringing the state’s total to two active cases. This new case comes from a man on a cargo vessel travelling from the Philippines and who was quarantined onboard before being taken to hospital.

Queenslanders have done a great job at preventing community transmission, and I’d like to thank you all for continuing to do the right thing.

Today’s updates include:

• COVID-19 hotspots in NSW
• Social distancing at work
• PPE training on TMS
• Changes to hospital visitor guidelines
• Meet Dave!

COVID-19 hotspots in NSW

Following an outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the western Sydney region, Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young has declared the suburbs of Campbelltown and Liverpool as COVID-19 hotspots. Queenslanders who visit these hotspots will be forced into hotel quarantine when re-entering the state at their own expense. If you have travel planned to NSW in the coming weeks, please make sure you are washing your hands regularly, staying physically distant, and make sure you have the COVID-19 safe app downloaded.

Physical distancing at work

As healthcare workers, there are times when practicing physical distancing isn’t possible. However, we are enforcing physical distancing as much as we can, including lifts. There are posters around our facilities advising how many people may use the lift at one time, which is mostly four and, in smaller lifts, two. If there are no signs, please use common sense. It’s important for us to set a good example and demonstrate to our patients and visitors that we’re taking physical distancing seriously. If you can, why not take the stairs! Beat the lift line and get in some steps along the way.

PPE training on TMS

There is a COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) online learning package available on TMS that only takes 15 minutes. The course covers the fundamental requirements within Metro North facilities for selecting, donning, doffing and conserving PPE. I encourage all clinical staff to complete the course, a refresher is always good! Just log into your TMS account and search “PPE”.

Changes to hospital visitor guidelines

The Hospital Visitors Direction has been recently amended to allow children as visitors and more than one visit per day and allow visits of longer than 2 hours. The revised Direction allows a patient to receive up to two visitors any one time, with multiple visits allowed in any one day.  More than two visitors continue to be allowed to provide end-of-life support to a patient.

Visitors who are unwell are asked not to come to visit patients in our hospitals. Similarly, unless they have a Chief Health Officer exemption, visitors who are under an isolation or quarantine order are unable to visit our hospital patients. If you are concerned that a visitor is not following this Direction, please follow local escalation pathways.

For all relevant documentation and resources please check our COVID-19 website.

Meet Dave!

Our family has grown a little since the last time I shared a message. My husband and I picked up Dave last week and fell in love instantly! This little fellow (a groodle…Golden Retriever/Poodle) has settled nicely into his new home and we’re very excited for him to meet his cuddly, furry cousins in the coming weeks. Here is Dave when we first picked him up and on his very first trip to Bunnings.

  

A big round of a-paws for everyone who is continuing to help Queensland slow the spread. Please continue to wash your hands thoroughly, cover coughs and sneezes, and most importantly, stay home if you’re sick!  Also continue to remember that looking after yourself, your family and your colleagues must remain your priorities over the coming weeks and months.  We are all in this together and therefore our health and wellbeing must be paramount. R U OK should remain your number one question to your family and colleagues!!!

I did hear that the number one quote for 2020 is…”you are on mute”!!! I am not surprised, I must have said it a million times and have had it said to me a million more!!!

Finally, I was asked today if I would be willing to share my famous fudge recipe. Now I have a confession to make that I have shared it a couple of times with Metro North colleagues. I am considering the repercussions of the broader distribution of this and whether it will compromise my ability to win a potential “fudge-off” in the future. So, I will work with the communications team to ascertain what that may look like and will keep you informed.  Watch this space!!!

In the meantime, stay safe, look after self and others and I look forward to what will hopefully be a COVID-19 free week.

I hope you all have a good week.

Kind regards,

Adjunct Professor Alanna Geary
Metro North Incident Commander

Metro North HHS – Overview of Cases*

HHS	Patients being managed by HHS						FEVER Clinics
	Total In-patients			Virtual Ward / HITH / or similar	Deaths **	Total cases managed by HHS (including recovered) ***	# of clinics	Presentations
		ICU Pts
		ICU-NOT Ventilated	ICU-Ventilated					Last 24 hrs	TOTAL^
MN TOTAL	0	0	0	0	3	337	5	338	43,255

*With effect 20 July 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.