27 April 2021

Dear colleagues,

The lockdown in the Perth and Peel regions in Western Australia has been relaxed, but there is ongoing local management within Western Australia, including a number of public exposure sites. There is a contact tracing alert (currently being updated) for anyone who has been to a public exposure site within Western Australia meaning that if you have been to one of the public exposure sites and enter Queensland within 14 days of being at that site, you must quarantine for 14 days from the day of exposure. This will be reflected in an updated Close Contacts Direction overnight.

FFE fit testing 

As at this afternoon, 525 Metro North staff have completed fit testing. The wider fit testing program for priority staff continues this week with the aim to have more than 3200 people fit tested by the end of May.

Key staff from the Clinical Skills Development Service have been trained to deliver testing across Metro North, with more ‘train the tester’ sessions to come to ensure a sustainable testing program after our initial testing is complete.

I request that, where culturally appropriate, you ensure that you are clean shaven (or only have facial hair that does not interfere with the fitting surfaces of the mask/respirator). This will ensure that you are able to achieve an effective face seal.

If our program is unable to find an appropriately fitting P2/N95 mask for you, please notify your supervisor/line manager and we will work with you to find an appropriate solution tailored to your situation.

For more information, see our FAQs and broader PPE resources.

International arrivals

From midnight today the cap on international arrivals into Brisbane will revert to 1300 passengers per week, plus airline crew.

There are some additional limitations to this cap – for example, arrivals from Papua New Guinea will remain at a 25 per cent reduction, and effective from this afternoon, all flights from India have been suspended until 15 May.

While the impact of the reversion to the cap of 1300 per week won’t be immediate, by mid to late next week we will see a gradual return to higher numbers of people in hotel quarantine. We know that this means that we will see more of these travellers in our emergency departments needing urgent care, and/or requiring admission to hospital if they test positive for COVID-19. We are spending this next week preparing for the anticipated increase in ED presentations and admissions.

Flu vaccinations 

Our Metro North staff flu vaccination program will roll out across the health service over the next week. Information on flu vaccinations for Caboolture and Kilcoy Hospitals and Woodford Health will be coming once details are finalised.

While flu vaccination doesn’t guarantee you won’t get seasonal influenza, it is the best protection against serious illness. Last year’s flu numbers were lower than usual due to vigilance around social distancing, hand hygiene and staying home when unwell, so let’s keep that up!

Regards,

Dr Liz Rushbrook
Metro North Incident Controller

Metro North HHS – overview of cases*

*With effect 27/4/2021 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.