COVID-19 update 336 | 28/01/2022
Louise O’Riordan Metro North Health Incident Controller
Dear colleagues,
- Pop up vaccination clinics
- PPE and fit testing
- Border response
- Booster vaccinations
Today there are 9974 reported new cases of COVID-19 in Queensland. We have around 760 Metro North staff who are either COVID positive or in isolation as a close contact.
Pop up vaccination clinics
This weekend we are standing up the first in a series of school pop up clinics to help families get children vaccinated before the start of the school year.
We will be at North Lakes State College and Narangba Valley State School from 9am to 2.30pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
PPE and fit testing
Metro North Health is committed to prioritising fit testing for all our frontline staff. Fit testing will be available over the weekend. Please check the fit testing schedule on the extranet for local information.
The National Guideline recommends that fit checking must be done at the start of every shift to ensure you have a good seal for fit tested staff. In an emergent situation, if your fitted mask cannot be located, please escalate to your team leader/hospital coordinator. A fit checked P2/N95 can be worn, as a last resort, until you are fit tested. You should not participate in aerosol generating procedures if you are not wearing a fit tested mask.
Have you been fit tested at a different HHS to where you currently work? You might not need to be fit tested again, if:
- you have your fit testing report
- you were fit tested in the past 12 months
- your facial features have not changed significantly
- you were fit tested to a mask available in your current HHS.
You can show your line manager a copy of your fit test report and have this information recorded in the system. You don’t need to have another fit test.
If you have any concerns about fit testing, you can submit them via the fit testing feedback portal. Urgent issues should be escalated to your supervisor and local EOC for resolution.
Border response
It is exactly two years today since our colleagues at the Gold Coast admitted Queensland’s first COVID patient.
Our airport and hotel quarantine response has been active since then, and with the recent changes to domestic and international travel restrictions we are now able to wind back those operations.
Thank you to the many staff who have supported these services over the past two years – the importance of this work in keeping Queenslanders safe during the pandemic cannot be overstated.
Booster vaccinations
Booster vaccines are available for people over 18 at our vaccination clinics.
All our vaccination clinics take walk ins and bookings:
- Doomben community vaccination centre, ages 12+
- Caboolture Square community vaccination centre, ages 5+ (check days for 5-11 year olds)
- Kallangur First Nations vaccination clinic, ages 5+ (pop up clinic)
- Brighton Health Campus, ages 12+
- Kippa Ring community vaccination clinic, ages 5-11
Clinic locations and times are available via the Queensland Health website.
If you it has been three months since your second vaccination, you are now eligible for a booster. Details on how to record your booster are available on the extranet staff boosters page.
Kind regards,
Louise O’Riordan
Metro North Health Incident Controller
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Current Metro North Health tier activated – Tier 4
Helpful links
- Register your positive RAT result
- Upload evidence of your vaccine
- Qld Health contact tracing list
- Register for your vaccine
- 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 | Total^ | |||||
| ICU not ventilated | ICU ventilated | ||||||
| 143 | 6 | 5 | 1341 | 15 | 7 | 958 | |
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 | 4 | 85 | 0 | 6 | |
*As at the above date
**Metro North Health has 15 recorded deaths (one person a return traveller into NSW, who passed away in NSW)
*** These numbers reflect the cases being managed by Metro North Health.
**** 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.