1) The staff infected at Box Hill on the covid ward - were their masks fit-tested ????
2) Box hill outbreak - staff are confused by messaging re: testing. They've heard 'all staff at the facility will be tested' publicly, while internal memos tell ask not to get tested unless they spent >29 min on ward/work regularly on the ward/direct contact w confirmed case
2 contd:)
Specific quote attributable to anonymous senior staff member "should i go to work as planned as I have been told not to test as have most of BHH staff. Yet you say we will be tested first".
3) Why aren't staff working on COVID wards, 6 months into a pandemic being CO-HORTED (essentially meaning quarantined) before being asked to work on non-covid wards? They could be infectious without knowing.
4) If cohorting is impossible (ffs) why aren't staff switching from COVID to non-COVID wards required to test negative? Isn't the Box Hill outbreak proof that the current protocols for weekly asymptomatic testing is not enough?
5) Why is testing in box hill outbreak still quite narrow (direct contacts, regular staff or >29 min on ward) when testing capacity is not burdened?
6) Chadstone - Is it true that asymptomatic testing of staff at Chadstone shops has uncovered a/some positive cases? If so, why didn't we test all customers of the butchers (esp as some customers tested positive!)? > follow up q as we know answer will be 'proportionality
7) We've been told the issue is 'proportionality' seems to be the answer provided to justify narrow testing (staff at box hill and Chadstone). While we have capacity in our testing system, is it more disproportional than the risk of an extension of lockdowns or wave 2.5th wave?
8) Who hired the private security guards (jk pls don't)
Hospital outbreaks matter.
If the virus leaks from there, then we will get wave 2.5 in the absence of a lockdown.
It's that simple.
This is not 'just' about protecting healthcare workers.
Far from it.
@leighsales
Comparing NSW to VIC now is a bit tricky - Both states are achieving similar case numbers, but Vic is worse than it looks right now, barely achieving the same result with lockdowns. Open up = drastically worse. RE: what is truly unique about Vic vs NSW approach -
No doubt Vic contact tracing was inadequate, likely due to a highly centralised structure of DHHS vs localised health model NSW. Lack of local knowledge and inefficiency come with this.
And although our CHO is highly competent, despite same job title as his interstate counterparts, did not have same rank in hierarchy.
We've had 1 opening question & almost 12 follow ups q at the presser about 'who hired the private guards' now.
I'm not saying it's not worth asking.
I'm just saying we're on knife's edge re: #covid19vic control, and maybe the 1st q should be what will you do to stop transmission.
Ask them why every person who has stepped foot onto the ward at the hospital outbreak isn't getting tested, not just the regular staff members/those who've spent > 30 min on there.
Ask them why we aren't testing even more casual contacts when we have slack in the system.
Ask them what their model is about 3 degrees of isolation - how do we balance making it effective, acceptable, humane and sustainable, without deterring people from electing themselves as contacts, and also not incentivising them to falsely say they are contacts.
Dear journos, a q for presser: 1/ "Re the hospital outbreak, CHO said all workers at the facility are being tested. Is it true this only includes staff in direct contact with confirmed cases + those who've spent >30 min on the ward? Should criteria be loosened?" #covidvic#auspol
follow up? "Given that we do not have strain on testing (resources/turnaround times), and that this could be a highly infectious outbreak (staff infected despite masks), is there a harm in testing more widely if it means a few extra hundred tests?"
2/ Assuming a/the infectious patient is still at the hospital,, the staff who are looking after them, have they been through quantitative fit testing for the P2/N95 masks they are wearing? #covid19vic
This presser jesus - here we are at a make/break point re: this 2nd wave, yet STILL talking about who hired the private security guards. Stop trying to blame one person. Blame them all. Blame the entire apparatus. Blame me. And let's get on with what matters most #covidvic
This is EXACTLY how all the arguments in my family play out. SAME SHIT.
It doesn't matter who screwed up, let's just take the NEXT.CORRECT.STEP.
I think the best part of our ethnic family fights is when I yell "stop yelling".