Message from the Metro North Health Incident Controller – COVID-19 update 377 | 25/03/2022
Dear colleagues,
- Current situation
- Booster vaccination
- COVID HR resources
Today there are 9730 new reported cases of COVID-19 in Queensland.
Current situation
We currently have 914 staff away from the workplace who are COVID positive or close contacts.
Metro North is currently on Tier 3 of our COVID response plan.
Metro North is caring for 707 people in the Virtual Ward. We are also managing COVID positive patients in some of our wards, with appropriate strategies in place to minimise further transmission.
Please remember to stay home if you are sick, get tested if you have symptoms, and wear your mask at work and whenever you can’t socially distance out in the community.
Booster vaccination
Today ATAGI has recommended that people at the greatest risk of severe COVID illness should get a 4th dose of COVID vaccine before winter, including:
- Adults aged 65 years and older
- Residents of aged care or disability care facilities
- People aged 16 years and older with severe immunocompromise (as defined in the ATAGI statement on the use of a 3rd primary dose of COVID-19 vaccine in individuals who are severely immunocompromised)
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 years and older.
People in these groups will be eligible four months after their first booster vaccination, or four months after a confirmed case of COVID if they contracted it after their first booster.
For the rest of us, vaccination boosters are recommended. Staff who have already had their booster can upload the evidence into the Queensland vaccination hub. Instructions on how to do this are on the COVID extranet.
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 | 1 | 0 | 707 | 51 | 3 | 332 | |
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 | 2 | 129 | 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.