Adj. Prof. Alanna Geary, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer
We are seeing an increase in people presenting to our emergency departments or being admitted to our hospitals or virtual ward with influenza, COVID-19, RSV and other acute respiratory illnesses. There are also quite a few staff on sick leave.
Due to this, Metro North is making a planned transition today to Tier 1 in our Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI) response plan. Directorates have updated response plans to reflect the local situation.
In Tier 1, the requirements across Metro North include:
- P2/N95 masks when caring for suspected/confirmed ARI patients and the donning of masks and PPE in all other clinical areas in line with PPE matrix
- Transmission based precautions for ARI patients in bedded services, noting patients with confirmed COVID will not to be cohorted with patients with other infections including COVID plus influenza
- All staff are encouraged to ensure:
- flu and COVID vaccinations are up to date and annual fit testing completed
- compliance with mandatory training programs.
For more information, please access the Metro North Acute Respiratory Illness Response Plan Tier 1.
There may be other requirements in your local workplace under your directorate acute respiratory illness subplan.
We are also asking staff to stay home if you’re unwell, practice your hand and respiratory hygiene and let us know as soon as possible via the Smart Leave form on MyHR if you’re off sick.
From a community perspective, Queensland is still on a green traffic light for COVID-19.
Kind regards,
Alanna.