25 May 2021
Dear colleagues,
Yesterday Melbourne recorded four new locally acquired cases of COVID-19. Today a further five new infections have been identified, bringing this to a total of nine locally acquired cases. Genomic sequencing has confirmed that five of these cases are linked to the Wollert man who returned to Victoria this month after acquiring the virus in South Australian hotel quarantine.
As a result, the Queensland Government has announced some new restrictions. From 1am Wednesday 26 May, anyone entering Queensland from any of the Victorian exposure sites at the time specified will be required to quarantine for 14 days in government-arranged accommodation.
If you have been to any of these sites and are already in Queensland, you must complete the Queensland Health online contact tracing self-assessment form. You must also get tested immediately and quarantine in your home or accommodation. Please call 134 COVID (13 42 68) if you are unable to complete the online self-assessment.
If you have been in the northern suburbs of Melbourne on or after 18 May 2021 but were not at any of the exposure venues in Victoria, please monitor your symptoms and get tested if you experience any COVID-19 symptoms, no matter how mild.
The list of Victorian exposure venues is available on the Queensland Health COVID-19 website and will continue to be updated over the coming days. Please continue to monitor this website.
This new outbreak shows us that COVID-19 is still with us. As we head into winter, this is a concerning time for us as the last 12 months have shown us that outbreaks are worse during our colder months.
Vaccination update
The Premier announced yesterday that 14 community vaccination hubs will be operating across Queensland by the end of July for people aged 40-49. People aged between 40-49, and are not part of the 1a or 1b categories, should register their interest for the COVID-19 vaccine so they can be contacted when a community hub opens in their local area.
If you are yet to receive your COVID-19 vaccine, I’d like encourage you and your eligible family members to book an appointment as soon as possible.
PPE fit testing
We are continuing to deliver our fit testing program across all Metro North facilities. Please continue to check the fit testing program webpage to see the latest schedule.
Just by way of some trivia, today 25 May I celebrate my 40th year in health. On this day in 1981 I commenced my General Nursing Training. Wow…who would have thought that in this week, 40 years later I would be Incident Controller during the biggest pandemic response in 100 years!! Life is full of surprises, turns and twists but I can honestly say Metro North Health’s response to COVID-19 has been outstanding and I feel a little chuffed to be working in this space with so many talented and dedicated health professionals. Congratulations to everyone for what you have done and continue to do to keep Queenslanders safe.
Kind regards,
Alanna Geary
Metro North Incident Controller
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 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 571 | 5 | 491 | 178,849 |
* As at 26/05/2021 1000
** Metro North has four recorded deaths (one person a return traveller into NSW, who passed away in NSW)
*** These numbers reflect the cases being managed by Metro North.