30 September 2021

30 September 2021

Dear colleagues,

Queensland cases

Queensland recorded six new community cases of COVID-19 and new restrictions will be introduced. Four of these cases are linked to the aviation training cluster – one of the pilots involved in the cluster travelled to Townsville on 21 September and has been infectious since then.

A woman from Camp Hill who visited Kyogle in Northern NSW has also tested positive and has been infectious in Queensland between 25 to 28 September.

The sixth case announced today had flown on flight VA333 from Melbourne to Brisbane on 28 September and went into hotel quarantine.

Authorities say they are not too worried about these cases as they can be linked however the next 24-48 hours will be crucial in deciding what Queensland will do next.

Updates on students in facilities

There has been an updated to the Hospital Entry Direction (no. 5) which affects student access to our facilities. Please see below:

A student must not enter, or remain on, the premises of a restricted hospital for the purpose of a clinical placement in connection with an enrolled course of study, unless they are a vaccinated student.

You can read the full direction online.

Stage two restrictions

Stage two restrictions will be put in place for Brisbane, Gold Coast, Logan, Moreton Bay, Townsville and Palm Island as of 4.00 pm today. These restrictions are:

Maximum of 30 people allowed to gather in home and in public, including those who live at the house.
Capacity at sporting events will be capped at 75 per cent.
Weddings and funerals will be capped to 100 with a maximum of 20 people allowed to dance.
Hospitality venues will have a reduced capacity at one person per four square metres.
You must be seated to eat and drink, and masks can only be removed to eat or drink.

Clarification on masks

You must carry a face mask with you at all times when you leave home.

Public transport and ride share: must wear a mask including while waiting for the transport in a public space such as the bus stop.
Outdoors: you must wear a mask when unable to stay 1.5 m apart from people who are not part of your household.
Indoors: you must wear a mask in indoor spaces (but not your own home).
At Metro North, staff must wear a mask at all times while on campus.

Check in tip!

When checking into places you regularly go to you can hit the icon in the top right-hand corner and it will bring up your most recently visited places – a great way to quickly check in!

The next 24 hours are critical, do your part by wearing a mask, practicing good social distancing and hand hygiene and get tested if you have any symptoms, even minor.

Check the contact tracing website at least twice a day,

Proof of vaccination

Today is the last day to upload evidence of your COVID-19 vaccine .

Regards,

Louise O’Riordan
Metro North COVID-19 Health Incident Controller

Metro North remains on Tier 1

Despite this ease of restrictions, Metro North will continue to remain on Tier 1 in our COVID response plan and moderate risk PPE.

PPE guidelines are online for healthcare delivery and for residential aged care and disability accommodation.

Helpful links

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					Yesterday	TOTAL^
MN TOTAL	7	0	0	0	4	792	4	624	243,598

*As at 30/09/2021 at 1000
**Metro North Health 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 Health. 

Download a PDF version