Dear colleagues,

As you may have heard, in response to the recent positive COVID-19 cases related to the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre, a range of extra protection measures have been put in place in hospitals, residential aged care facilities and disability accommodation services across Metro North.

These additional measures have included the expanded use of PPE in our Emergency Departments, with all staff now wearing full PPE.  If there are changes to PPE for other staff, we’ll let everyone know.

There are also new visitor restrictions in place at all of our facilities.  We are no longer allowing visitors to access our hospitals unless they are essential to the support of care, or for end of life cases.  Residential aged care facilities and disability accommodation services are also closing to all visitors this morning.

In addition to these extra protection measures, changes to the Movement and Gathering Public Health Direction were also enacted this morning.  From today, in South East Queensland gatherings in public and private homes will be restricted to a maximum of 10 visitors.

It remains essential that if you are sick, get tested and stay home until you get the results.  Staff must not attend rostered shifts at any time if they are unwell.  Sick and special leave arrangements are available, please talk to your line manager for more information.

As a Hospital and Health Service, we’ve been able to navigate and adapt to changes quickly because of the professionalism of our staff, and their dedication to our patients.  This morning has been another example of this.

As things continue to change, we’ll make sure everyone continues to be informed.

Regards,

Alanna Geary
Metro North Incident Commander