Message from the Metro North Health Incident Controller – COVID-19 update 376 | 24/03/2022
Dear colleagues,
- Current situation
- COVID-19 Vaccine research
- COVID HR resources
Current situation
Today there are 11,018 new reported cases of COVID-19 in Queensland.
We currently have 818 staff away from the workplace who are COVID positive or close contacts. We are working with directorates and professional leads to provide support and minimise the impact for frontline service delivery.
Metro North is currently on Tier 3 of our COVID response plan. This is due to the number of staff not in the workplace.
Our Virtual Ward currently has 667 patients. To put this into context, on the first of March we had 264 patients in the Virtual Ward.
Visitors are allowed at our facilities in line with the current Chief Health Officer direction. This allows two fully vaccinated visitors per patient in most instances, except in high risk areas such as emergency departments, neonatal intensive care units, with some requirements for maternity and antenatal care.
Visitors must wear a mask in line with the current mask requirement for healthcare settings.
COVID-19 Vaccine research
Metro North is leading the QoVAX SET statewide study looking at how the immune system responds to COVID-19 vaccines and factors affecting the response.
The study is open to anyone who has had at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with the last dose being received 1 – 3 months ago. It involves a consent form, questionnaire and blood test. The study has been approved by the RBWH Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC/2021/QRBW/81904). Visit the QoVAX SET website or email QoVAX-Statewide@health.qld.gov.au to find out more.
COVID HR resources
Information for staff who test positive or who are close contacts is available on the extranet:
The Critically Essential Worker requirements are still in effect.
Kind regards,
Alanna Geary
Metro North Health Incident Controller
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Current Metro North Health tier activated – Tier 3
Helpful links
- Register your positive RAT result
- Upload evidence of your vaccine or booster
- Vaccination locations
- 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 | Yesterday | |||||
| ICU not ventilated | ICU ventilated | ||||||
| 39 | 0 | 0 | 667 | 51 | 3 | 359 | |
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 | 3 | 128 | 0 | 2 | |
*As at the above date
**Metro North Health has recorded deaths (one person a return traveller into NSW, who passed away in NSW)
*** 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.