Covid 19 Delta outbreak: New exposure event at Middlemore Hospital after patient tests positive

Auckland Metropolis Hospital. Picture / Michael Craig

KEY POINTS:

• 4 new instances right this moment convey the entire to 5. Two from North Shore Hospital and three from Auckland Metropolis Hospital.

A brand new publicity occasion at Middlemore Hospital has meant 21 employees have needed to be stood down.

The occasion comes after a affected person returned a constructive Covid-19 take a look at outcome right this moment.

The case visited the hospital’s Emergency Division on Friday for a non-Covid-19 associated challenge the place they have been assessed and admitted.

The affected person was asymptomatic and answered no to all Covid-19 screening questions.

The affected person then developed a cough on Sunday, was examined, and right this moment returned a constructive take a look at outcome.

Well being officers mentioned there are 40 sufferers have been recognized as contacts on account of the publicity occasion. Of those, 15 are inpatients whereas the remaining 25 are being adopted up by the Auckland Regional Public Well being Service.

Thirty-four employees have additionally been recognized as contacts. Of those, 21 employees have been stood down with testing plans.

“Whereas there have been numerous publicity occasions at Middlemore Hospital, this isn’t sudden as there are a variety of subclusters in South Auckland, for which Middlemore is the native hospital,” the Ministry of Well being mentioned.

The Ministry of Well being mentioned so far, no publicity occasions at Middlemore Hospital have resulted in Covid-19 transmission to different sufferers or employees.

5 hospital employees in Auckland have examined constructive for Covid-19 since instances emerged over the weekend.

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Two Auckland Metropolis Hospital employees returned constructive checks this morning after one other employees member examined constructive over the weekend, the Well being Ministry mentioned in a 1pm assertion.

All three have been absolutely vaccinated, says Auckland District Well being Board’s Covid-19 incident controller Alex Pimm.

Preliminary investigations present no hyperlinks to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) father or mother case or to one another. “It seems the Covid infections have been community-acquired,” mentioned Pimm.

Of the three, two have been examined at a group testing website whereas one was examined as a part of routine office surveillance.

Auckland Metropolis Hospital has now recognized all contacts of the employees member who examined constructive over the weekend to hold out testing on-site for employees and sufferers.

The recommendation for Auckland DHB sufferers and whānau who’ve been at their websites is that they don’t have to take motion in regard to those instances until they’re contacted by public well being or the DHB.

“Ninety-eight per cent of our employees have had a minimum of one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, which we all know reduces the probability of onward transmission in addition to severe sickness.

“With greater than 12,000 employees, the DHB is likely one of the largest employers in Auckland so it’s not sudden that there shall be employees members who purchase Covid throughout the group.

“The general public could be assured that in the event that they want our care, they are going to be secure in hospitals,” mentioned Pimm.

North Shore Hospital instances

At North Shore Hospital two employees members returned constructive outcomes right this moment.

Each are absolutely vaccinated and work on the dialysis unit adjoining to the hospital the place a affected person was reported as Covid-positive on Saturday.

No direct hyperlink between these instances has been established and investigations proceed, says the hospital’s Covid-19 government lead Tamzin Brott, however the hospital is taking a conservative strategy whereas recognising the necessity to maintain life-saving companies operating for renal sufferers.

Eighteen employees have been recognized as shut contacts and stood down from work as an preliminary precaution and pending additional investigation.

The dialysis unit stays open however there are measures in place to handle potential dangers to sufferers and employees.

This contains the obligatory use of non-public protecting tools (PPE) and intensive cleansing between every group of sufferers, and speedy antigen testing for employees earlier than every shift.

“Even with these precautions in place, we are able to count on employees within the unit shall be feeling anxious,” mentioned Brott, acknowledging the workforce’s dedication to renal sufferers.

The Waitemata DHB employs nearly 9000 folks and is additional controls to scale back the frequency and affect of Covid publicity of their companies, Brott mentioned in an replace to hospital employees.

“Because the variety of Covid instances will increase in the neighborhood, we should always recognise that the probability of our companies and employees encountering constructive instances additionally rises.”

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