Questions over SA’s ability to deal with Covid-19 outbreak as leases on back-up hospitals expire

Leases have expired on two hospitals brought back online last year to bolster SA’s Covid defences, and it’s raising questions over what happens if the virus gets out now.

South Australia’s ability to handle a Covid-19 outbreak has been questioned after the state government’s leases on two back-up hospitals expired.

The Opposition is calling on the government to outline its plan for additional Covid-19 bed capacity to make up for the loss of the Wakefield Hospital and ECH College Grove.

The government, which announced in March last year it was leasing the two facilities to provide 188 beds to manage coronavirus hospitalisations, confirmed the leases ran out in February this year.

However, it says the establishment of the Tom’s Court medi-hotel and the continued evolution of how the pandemic was managed meant it was not necessary to extend the leases.

Leader of the Opposition, Peter Malinauskas. Picture: Matt Loxton

It comes after the Australian Medical Association last week warned that hospitals were not prepared to cope with the easing of restrictions once vaccination rates hit 80 per cent.

Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas said it would be a tragedy if the state’s health system was overwhelmed due to a lack of preparation and a disaster for the economy if SA was stuck with restrictions longer than necessary “because of the perilous state of our health system”.

“It is clear our hospital system cannot cope with demand right now – and that is without any Covid cases and with next to no flu cases,” he said.

“The Marshall Liberal Government must outline its plan for additional COVID-19 bed capacity to make up for the loss of Wakefield and College Grove back-up sites.”

The old Wakefield hospital in Adelaide was called up to service last year. Picture Tait Schmaal

A government spokesman said plans were put in place early in the pandemic to prepare for any surge in demand for ICU beds and ventilators and those plans were reviewed as the nature of the pandemic continued to evolve.

“There are approximately 200 Intensive Care Unit beds and more than 300 ventilators in South Australia to be used for the critical care of patients,” he said.

“While ECH College Grove and Wakefield Hospital are no longer leased by the Government we have continued to secure access to appropriate facilities, such as the Tom’s Court dedicated facility, as needed and will continue to do so.”

South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Regional risk just as high: Stevens

By Andrew Hough

Country residents must be just as alert to the risk of a Covid-19 outbreak after several scares involving interstate truck drivers, the state’s coronavirus chief says.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said there was a wrong “perception that some of the regional areas in SA don’t have Covid”. He said the regions needed to be just as alert as Adelaide residents.

It follows five infectious truck drivers from Perth, NSW and Victoria, visiting regional roadhouses, city hotels and warehouses last week.

As a result, 538 people have been ordered into quarantine, after they were linked to more than two dozen high-risk exposure sites.

“We’d like, to think people who are in those quieter parts of South Australia … take their obligations as seriously as we would like to see in the wider metropolitan area,” Mr Stevens said.

“I think what we’ve seen with these truck drivers is that the regional parts … are just as much at risk as any other part of South Australia. We had positive truck drivers travel through Port Augusta, Penong (on the Eyre Peninsula), and Ceduna. We’ve had them in Tailem Bend.

“This is a signal to everybody that we’re all equally at risk of having Covid in the community without knowing it. So QR code check-ins and getting tested applies to all South Australians regardless of where you live.”

There were two new overseas acquired cases of Covid on Sunday, both reported from a medi-hotel.