NW regional travel bans on the cards

PREMIER Peter Gutwein says he will consider locking down certain areas of the state if required, as the North-West emerges as Tasmania’s coronavirus transmission hotspot.

Burnie’s North West Regional Hospital would not take new admissions to its medical or surgical wards as investigations continue into how three health workers became infected with COVID-19, it was announced yesterday.

Authorities are working to determine whether the infection of a nurse at Latrobe’s Mersey Community Hospital and another person in the Devonport area were through community transmission.

“I will consider locking down one area of the state if needed,” Mr Gutwein said.

The outbreak investigation at the NWRH began on Friday night to try to pinpoint which hospital patients and other staff members might be affected.

At least 18 health workers linked to the three infected hospital staff are in quarantine.

Two workers at the hospital returned positive tests on Friday. Another, a female health worker in her 20s, was found to be infected on Saturday.

Greens health spokeswoman Rosalie Woodruff said the cases raised the prospect of restricting movement between the regions.

“Should that occur, it is more essential than ever that proper access to local health services is maintained,” she said. “There are clearly serious capacity constraints on public health facility infrastructure and staffing in the North-West.

“Health Minister Sarah Courtney must reassure residents the Government will prioritise all necessary resources to keep essential medical and surgical hospital services in this region.”

Public Health Director Mark Veitch said all three workers had spent time in one setting at the hospital.

“Eighteen staff identified as being in the close circle of the first two cases are in quarantine but there will be more identified,” Dr Veitch said.

He said patients at risk were being identified. However, the source of the infection may have come from outside the hospital, authorities said.

“Any staff member at the hospital suffering symptoms has been asked to absent themselves from work and be tested,” Dr Veitch said.

Chief Medical Officer Tony Lawler said no new patients would be admitted to the hospital. Negotiations are under way with the adjoining North West Private Hospital to see whether patients could be treated there. Hospital directors are also investigating whether the NWRH can be reconfigured to take patients.

There is some capacity at the Mersey Community Hospital at Latrobe and Ambulance Tasmania has been asked to take new emergency presentations that would normally go to Burnie through to the Launceston General Hospital.

Patients already in beds at the NWRH will not be moved.

Ms Woodruff said rather than negotiating with individual hospitals about whether or not they can help, the Government needed to urgently ensure the full capacity of the private hospital system was available to be deployed as necessary at the instruction of the Director of Public Health.