HOSPITAL ALL CLEAR

TOWNSVILLE residents have no reason to fear going to Townsville University Hospital following recent positive cases of COVID-19 being cared for at the facility.

The hospital is reassuring the community after concerns people were avoiding going there after positive cases from the cargo ship Globe Electra were moved to the hospital.

Infectious diseases doctor Chris Heather said each step taken from being notified of a positive case coming to the hospital was “a deliberate one”, to minimise the spread.

“The first consideration is the route patients take through the hospital to get to our dedicated ward for COVID-19 patients,” he said. “The ward is strategically lo

THE Townsville community is being applauded for “saving lives” through a commitment to hand hygiene, social distancing and getting flu vaccinations, halting the spread of the flu.

Townsville Public Health Unit director Dr Steven Donohue says the measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 have had an “astounding” effect.

“Year to date we’ve had 488 lab-confirmed cases of influenza compared to an average of 1219 for the same time period,” he said. “(But) while this in itself is remarkable, it actually only tells half the story.

“What we have seen is that through January, February and March, as expected, influenza cases

cated to avoid unnecessary travel within the hospital, which means minimising exposure to other people in the hospital.

“It is also critical that the procedure of transferring people mandates that clinicians wear personal started to rise, however, after March the numbers just fell off completely.”

Residents are being reminded of the importance of getting tested if they are unwell, with the symptoms deemed “unlikely” to be influenza.

“If you have a fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell, or any of the other symptoms it’s unlikely to be influenza,” Dr Donohue said.

“And if symptoms persist after you’ve tested negative for COVID-19, make an appointment to see your GP; there are still other respiratory illnesses such as rhinovirus and Q fever going around.”

protective equipment and observe appropriate social distancing.”

Lifts and corridors used by patients being transported to the ward are thoroughly cleaned afterwards.

The infection-control ward is a dedicated isolation space, created

after the 2009 swine flu pandemic. It is purpose-built to prevent airborne diseases escaping the room.

The ward also contains medical imaging devices including dedicated mobile x-ray and ultrasound if a patient requires them.

Dr Heather said the community could be confident the risk of acquiring COVID-19 in hospital was very low.

“Clinicians caring for COVID-19 patients are well trained, they know what to do,” he said.

“They wear full PPE including masks, gowns, gloves, face shields and goggles at all times.

“If they (staff members) are exposed to COVID-19, the infection would incubate, that person would become sick and infectious and only then could they pass the illness to another person.

“It is for this very reason that our clinicians wear full PPE, to make it almost impossible that they would contract COVID-19.”

Patients in the ward are isolated in their rooms and do not receive visitors.