{"id":4138,"date":"2020-09-16T18:06:22","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T08:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/?p=4138"},"modified":"2020-09-19T21:14:12","modified_gmt":"2020-09-19T11:14:12","slug":"16-sep-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/covid-ic\/16-sep-2020","title":{"rendered":"16 Sept 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Metro<\/span><\/div>
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Dear colleagues,<\/p>\n

Queensland has recorded\u00a0zero cases\u00a0of COVID-19\u00a0in the last\u00a024 hours,\u00a0with three recovered cases\u00a0bringing our State\u2019s total of active cases to\u00a028.\u00a0In the last five days Queensland has only recorded four new cases, all who have been in hotel quarantine.\u00a0It is more important\u00a0now than ever to keep up the great work to avoid any further community transmissions!<\/p>\n

As mentioned earlier in the week, we\u00a0are\u00a0reviewing\u00a0our\u00a0Tier 2 minus<\/strong>\u00a0regularly and the only relaxation of restrictions at this stage\u00a0is that\u00a0made earlier in the week around\u00a0universal mask wearing. If you are still unsure if this applies to you, please speak to your line manager.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0today\u2019s vidcast\u00a0Jackie and I were joined by\u00a0RBWH Director of Infectious Diseases,\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Krispin\u00a0Hajkowicz.\u00a0Krispin shared with us some great lessons learnt from the Victorian COVID-19\u00a0response. I\u2019ve outlined\u00a0five\u00a0key learning points<\/strong>\u00a0from today\u2019s\u00a0vidcast\u00a0to keep our\u00a0facilities, staff and patients safe\u00a0in\u00a0a potential outbreak:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Tea room hospital transmission\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some\u00a0of the\u00a0healthcare\u00a0outbreaks in\u00a0Victoria\u00a0resulted from\u00a0staff keeping their masks off\u00a0for extended periods of time\u00a0after eating in tea rooms to chat and socialise with other workers.\u00a0Infections were also linked to staff\u00a0using multiple staff rooms throughout facilities.\u00a0So,\u00a0the tip is to put masks back on immediately after eating, if\u00a0you are required to wear one,\u00a0and\u00a0utilise one\u00a0tearoom\u00a0where possible.\u00a0Even better was the suggestion\u00a0of trying to\u00a0take\u00a0a break\u00a0outdoors.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Staff coming to work with mild symptoms\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Several\u00a0outbreaks\u00a0came\u00a0from staff continuing to come to work\u00a0when experiencing extremely mild symptoms.\u00a0One staff member in Victoria who attend work with mild COVID-19 symptoms led to an estimated outbreak of over 70 people.\u00a0We continue to urge staff\u00a0to stay at home and get tested no matter how mild their symptoms may be.<\/p>\n

Mobile staff were\u00a0more\u00a0susceptible\u00a0to COVID\u00a0infected\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mobile\u00a0healthcare workers\u00a0were\u00a0more\u00a0likely to acquire and transmit\u00a0COVID-19\u00a0as they\u00a0moved\u00a0between facilities.\u00a0It was also noted\u00a0that\u00a090% of\u00a0healthcare workers\u00a0with COVID-19\u00a0were nurses,\u00a0doctors and patient support officers.\u00a0Not surprising that these staff frequently work with\u00a0long periods of contact with patients.<\/p>\n

Aerosol Generating Behaviour (AGB)\u00a0became a new category of risk\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aerosol Generating Behaviour from\u00a0patients suffering with severe respiratory distress, dementia or\u00a0other cognitive impairments\u00a0arose as\u00a0a\u00a0new category of\u00a0COVID-19 risk in the Victorian\u00a0outbreak.\u00a0Metro North will be looking into\u00a0developing a COVID-19\u00a0plan\u00a0around AGBs\u00a0to ensure we have a procedure in place\u00a0to minimise staff risk\u00a0in case of an\u00a0outbreak within our facilities.\u00a0It\u2019s a vexing problem so if you have any ideas on this please email me directly please.<\/p>\n

Emotional and mental wellbeing of staff\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is understandable that\u00a0healthcare workers in Victoria have been suffering\u00a0from fatigue,\u00a0frustration,\u00a0and decreased morale.\u00a0Some services in Victoria supported staff with\u00a0packages\u00a0of\u00a0water and snacks, some staff in\u00a0direct contact with\u00a0COVID-19 patients were offered hotel accommodation to lower the anxiety of bringing the virus back into their homes.\u00a0At Metro North your wellbeing is our priority and in the case of a large outbreak\u00a0we\u00a0will explore avenues to help reduce fatigue and anxiety for our staff.\u00a0Advice from those in the thick of it is to relax, recharge and take a break now while our\u00a0transmission is low.<\/p>\n

If you missed the\u00a0vidcast\u00a0today,\u00a0my suggestion\u00a0is to\u00a0watch\u00a0it\u00a0here<\/a>, much better than my\u00a0few\u00a0dot points above!\u00a0\u00a0Krispin covers the core learnings from Victoria for about the first 20 minutes and then answers staff questions.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow\u00a0Michelle Stute, will be joining our team and\u00a0I\u00a0have no\u00a0doubt will do a great job in her first week as Incident Controller.<\/p>\n

Kind regards,
\nMark Butterworth
\nMetro North Incident Commander<\/p>\n

Current\u00a0MN\u00a0Response Tier Activated \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Tier Two minus<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Metro North HHS \u2013 Overview of Cases*<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

HHS<\/strong><\/td>\n

Patients being managed by HHS<\/strong><\/td>\nFEVER Clinics<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total\u00a0In-patients<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Virtual Ward \/ HITH \/ or similar<\/strong><\/td>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Deaths<\/strong><\/p>\n

**<\/strong><\/td>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Total cases managed by HHS (including recovered)<\/strong><\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/td>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

#<\/strong><\/p>\n

of clinics<\/strong><\/td>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Presentations<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

<\/td>\nICU Pts<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

ICU-NOT Ventilated<\/strong><\/td>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

ICU-Ventilated<\/strong><\/td>\n

Last 24 hrs<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

TOTAL^<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\u202f\u202fMN TOTAL<\/td>\n\u202f0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n342<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n616<\/td>\n87,298<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

*With effect\u202f16\u00a0September\u00a02020,\u202f1000<\/p>\n

**Metro North has three\u202frecorded deaths\u202f(one person a return traveller into NSW, who passed away in NSW)<\/p>\n

*** These numbers reflect the cases being managed by Metro North.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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