Dear colleagues,

•  Intense rainfall event update
  • Lean forward
  • Current situation
  • Wellbeing
  • Donations and volunteers
• COVID-19 update
  • Community mask restrictions
  • Density and vaccination restrictions

INTENSE RAINFALL EVENT UPDATE

Lean forward

Metro North has moved down to LEAN FORWARD for the intense rainfall event (LEAN FORWARD Code Brown). Many of our directorates have moved down to ALERT.

Current situation

Current weather predictions are for potential storms overnight and over the weekend, however the sunshine today is allowing rivers and creeks to recede.

There is a flood watch active for our region. Brisbane River at the city is still in the MINOR flood range. Please stay across the Bureau of Meteorology warnings in the coming days and check for road closures before driving.

Metro North is still providing support to flood isolated communities, vulnerable facilities and evacuation centres.

Wellbeing

If you are cleaning up, make sure you take some precautions to protect yourself from infection and injury.

Visit your GP if you need a tetanus booster, wear protective clothing and mosquito repellent, and do not enter flooded waterways.

Staff who require emotional or psychological support can access free confidential services 24/7 through Benestar on 1300 360 364. You can find other resources on the extranet.

Donations and volunteering

If you would like to make a donation of goods or money, you can contact these local charities:

• Givit (donations of goods)
• Red Cross – 1300 554 419 (free call)
• Foodbank – 07  3395 8422
• Salvation Army – 13 72 58
• Lifeline – 1800 800 768

You can also sign up to volunteer for the Brisbane Mud Army 2.0 or Moreton Bays’ Moreton Army through Volunteering Queensland. City of Gold Coast, Logan City, Ipswich City and Fraser Coast also have their own versions of “Mud Army”. If you need help cleaning up, you can register for assistance as well.

COVID-19 UPDATE

Today there are 5446 reported cases of COVID-19 in Queensland.

Community mask restrictions

From 6pm today, Friday 4 March, masks will only be required at:

• Healthcare settings
• Residential aged care facilities
• Disability accommodation
• Correctional facilities
• While waiting for and on public transport
• In taxis and rideshares,
• At airports and on all domestic and international flights.

Where a mask as required and if you cannot physically distance.

Critically, this means there is no change to mandatory masks at work. Masks are required in all Metro North settings. Please use the appropriate mask for your type of work as outlined in the high-risk category of the Queensland Health PPE matrix.

Density and vaccination restrictions

There are also changes to the rules around capacity/density and vaccination requirements from 6pm tonight, including:

• Only fully vaccinated people can attend the following venues:
  • hospitality venues such as hotels, pubs, clubs, taverns, bars, restaurants, cafés
  • indoor entertainment venues such as nightclubs, indoor live music venues, karaoke bars, concerts, theatres, cinemas
  • outdoor entertainment activities such as sporting stadiums, theme parks, tourism experiences including reef excursions
  • festivals—either indoor or outdoor—such as musical festivals, folk festivals or arts festivals
  • Queensland Government owned galleries, museums or libraries.
• Unvaccinated people will NOT be permitted to enter a number of venues, including vulnerable settings, hospitality venues, indoor and outdoor entertainment venues, and Queensland Government-owned galleries and museums. Please see the website for details on restrictions and exceptions.
• There will be no capacity/density restrictions for the following venues/locations, regardless of vaccination status (noting the above restrictions on unvaccinated people entering certain venues still apply):
  • Food courts
  • Hairdressers and beauty services
  • Funerals
  • Gyms
  • Universities
• Weddings: If anyone attending a wedding is unvaccinated, it is restricted to a maximum of 20 people. No restrictions apply to weddings with only fully vaccinated attendees and officials.

Kind regards,

Louise O’Riordan and Dr Liz Rushbrook
Metro North Health Incident Controller

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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*

Norfolk Island – overview of cases***

*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.