COVID-19 update 329 | 21/01/2022
Louise O’Riordan Metro North Health Incident Controller
Dear colleagues,
- Hospital visitors – birthing mothers
- PPE and fit testing
- Isolation – day 0
- Quarantine workers direction
- Vaccination boosters
Today there are 16,031 reported new cases of COVID-19 in Queensland.
Hospital visitors – birthing mothers
Yesterday’s Hospital Entry Direction (no. 9) states that birthing mothers may have up to two support people with them, including their partner.
This includes mothers who are COVID positive and their close contact partner or support person. For mothers whose support person is COVID positive, an exemption request needs to be sent to your EOC and then to the Metro North EOC to progress.
PPE and fit testing
Fit testing continues to be a high priority. We have developed a plan to improve our current fit testing arrangements and increase our capacity. All staff who have direct patient contact need to have two fit tested masks.
New fit testing machines are arriving on Monday and additional staff are being trained over the weekend. In the meantime, we are temporarily reallocating fit testing resources to maximise testing access for staff in critical areas.
Staff who do not have a fit tested mask available at the start of their shift should immediately let their line manager know and contact the local EOC who can reallocate stock. We have created a fit testing issues portal for recording concerns about access to fit testing and fitted masks.
Isolation – day 0
I have been asked to clarify day 0 for isolation purposes for people who are COVID positive. Day 0 is the day the test was taken (either RAT or PCR), not the day the test result is returned in the case of a PCR test.
This is the same for an asymptomatic close contact whose day 6 rapid antigen test returns a positive result. The day of the positive test is day 0 for the purposes of isolation.
Quarantine facility workers direction
Queensland Health has released an update to the Requirements for Quarantine Facility Workers Direction (No. 5). The changes allow rapid antigen tests to be used for surveillance testing for quarantine facility staff. Testing is required every 7 days or on return to work if away for 7 days.
Vaccination boosters
The Premier has announced today that from Monday 24 January, COVID vaccination boosters will be available three months after a second dose.
If you would like to record your COVID vaccination booster, you can do it via the COVID-19 Vaccination Hub (available only via a Queensland Health computer or external access to the QH website, using Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers.)
The process is similar to recording your first two doses:
- Download your COVID digital certificate from your myGov account
- Go to the COVID-19 Vaccination Hub (hvh.health.qld.gov.au)
- Choose the +Booster Vaccination option
- Add your booster details
- Upload or drag and drop your certificate
- Save
For staff who do not usually have Queensland Health computer access, you can complete the form on the extranet, send to your line manager for verification, and then submit to MN-COVID-Staff-Vaccination-Forms-only@health.qld.gov.au for processing.
Thank you and have a good weekend.
Louise O’Riordan
Metro North Health Incident Controller
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Current Metro North Health tier activated – Tier 4
Helpful links
- Register your positive RAT result
- Upload evidence of your vaccine
- Qld Health contact tracing list
- Register for your vaccine
- Qld Health general COVID-19 page
- Metro North COVID-19 extranet
- COVID vidcast recordings on QHEPS
Metro North HHS – overview of cases*
| Patients managed by HHS | Fever clinics | ||||||
| Total in-patients | Virtual ward/ HITH/ similar | Deaths** | No. of clinics | Presentations | |||
| Total | ICU patients | Total^ | |||||
| ICU not ventilated | ICU ventilated | ||||||
| 165 | 9 | 5 | 1195 | 8 | 7 | 1520 | |
Norfolk Island – overview of cases****
| Patients managed by HHS | Close Contacts in quarantine | ||||||
| Total in-patients | Virtual ward/ HITH/ similar | Total cases including recovered | Deaths | ||||
| Total | ICU patients | ||||||
| ICU not ventilated | ICU ventilated | ||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 74 | 0 | 19 | |
*As at the above date
**Metro North Health has eight recorded deaths (one person a return traveller into NSW, who passed away in NSW)
*** These numbers reflect the cases being managed by Metro North Health.
**** As part of an Intergovernmental Agreement, from 1 January 2022 Metro North Health is providing a number of health support services to Norfolk Island. This includes advice and support to staff on island in terms of managing COVID patients. The numbers in this section of the table refer to COVID patients who remain on Norfolk Island and are receiving direct care by staff on Norfolk Island.