Hospital staff link

Two of Baw Baw Shire’s three coronavirus cases are staff at West Gippsland Healthcare Group, but one is currently on leave and has had no link to the hospital for a number of weeks.

WGHG announced on Saturday that a staff member had tested positive to coronavirus.

Chief executive officer Dan Weeks yesterday confirmed the third case listed in Baw Baw’s weekend statistics also was a staff member.

However, he stressed the second staff member had been on leave since the end of June and had not been at work during that time. He said it appeared the second staff member had caught coronavirus through community transmission and “nothing on the face of it suggests there has been a link to the hospital.” On government advice, Cooinda

Lodge nursing home has now been locked down to visitors because of the vulnerability of residents.

Testing of all staff was introduced over the weekend in an effort to retain community confidence in staff.

Mr Weeks said for the protection of the employee, he could not reveal what department the staff member worked in.

“The number of people the employee worked with prior to becoming symptomatic was very, very low. We have all those people at home in isolation until next weekend.

“All are symptom free. They will all be tested again on Wednesday and if the results are negative and they remain symptom free, they will be able to return to work commencing July 19.

“We have tested patients who were in hospital when our employee worked prior to becoming symptomatic.

“There are no current in-patients that are at risk. There is a very small number of patients that have gone home and there is a very small risk they were in contact with the staff member and the department (DHHS) will contact those people.”

“As a precaution, we are strongly encouraging every staff member (including contractors, visiting medical officers, employees of radiology, pharmacy, pathology etc) to be tested (swabbed),” he said.

Mr Weeks said it was very unlikely anyone sitting in the emergency department would have had contact with the staff member.

He said the person was “local” and he was unaware of any community involvement they may have had outside the hospital.

Mr Weeks said the staff member worked on Saturday, July 4, woke up the following day feeling unwell and rang in sick.

The staff member was tested at the Warragul clinic on Monday and received the positive result on Friday.

He said there was no evidence the employee contracted coronavirus at work.

Mr Weeks said the employee had followed correct procedures and isolated.

WGHG announced the positive case on Saturday morning.

Mr Weeks said the turnaround of testing results fluctuated. While healthcare workers are supposed to receive priority, Mr Weeks said there were different levels of priority.

“I am asking for all staff to be tested because that will give us a better snapshot. The response has been overwhelming.

Of the 400 staff tested over the weekend, the first 100 results in yesterday morning were all negative.

Mr Weeks said the respiratory clinic in Warragul had been doing a wonderful job.

To assist with prioritising staff testing, Mr Weeks said he was grateful that Latrobe Regional Hospital sent a testing team to the hospital to work on Saturday and Sunday. The turnaround for results is 24 hours.

“We are testing our staff so we can give confidence to the community,” he said.

Elective surgery will continue at the hospital.

Mr Weeks said patients from lockdown areas would be tested before surgery.

But, he said, no new elective surgery bookings would be allocated to patients in lockdown areas.

All staff at the Landsborough St site are required to wear masks whenever in public spaces, shared office spaces or interacting with other staff, patients or visitors.

Mr Weeks said the government advised Cooinda Lodge to lock down because of the vulnerability of residents.

He said all families had been contacted and were by and large understanding.

He said the public health unit also recommended all Cooinda residents be tested.

“It is safety first for them as a vulnerable group,” he said.

Visitors to the hospital will be required to wear masks in all areas of the hospital and will be limited to one visit per patient per day for one hour only. The visitor must be immediate family or a carer.

All visitors and staff to WGHG will continue to be screened and temperature checked on arrival.