Long Bay forensic hospital in lockdown as staff test positive to COVID-19
Long Bay Forensic Hospital has been placed into lockdown and visits suspended after two staff members tested positive to COVID-19, with four patients showing symptoms of the deadly virus.
NSW
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Two staff at Long Bay Forensic Hospital have been diagnosed with coronavirus, with sources claiming up to four patients were also showing potential symptoms of COVID-19.
Situated on the Long Bay jail site in Malabar, the hospital operates mental health, medical subacute and aged care units.
It is a 135-bed high security mental health facility for patients who have been in contact with the criminal justice system, and high-risk civilian patients.
Since the staff tested positive on Thursday, visits have been suspended while nursing staff from other areas have been deployed to the affected ward.
Contacts of the staff had also been undertaken with those potentially at risk of infection in self-isolation.
A Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network spokeswoman said staff were working closely with the NSW Ministry of Health to prevent and control virus.
“The Network is taking appropriate health and safety measures after two staff members at the Forensic Hospital were diagnosed with COVID-19,” she said.
“The health and safety of patients and staff is our foremost priority.
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“Contact tracing has been completed with staff and patients, and those identified as close contacts have been tested and are in isolation.”
Meanwhile, Corrective Services has cancelled all family and friend visits across the entire prison system including at Long Bay maximum security facility.
The policy will be reassessed tomorrow with audio visual technology thought to be a logical solution to allowing visits again.
A source said forensic hospital staff learned two of their colleagues had tested positive about 5pm on Thursday.
“Some staff went in to isolation and one said four patients were also displaying symptoms,” the source said.
A Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) spokeswoman said the department was also exploring options to increase the use of audiovisual links for family and legal visits, as well as court appearances.
Corrective Services Industries was manufacturing 20 pop-up audiovisual studios to add to the existing 107 videoconferencing studios and pop-ups already in the system, she said.
CSNSW also has access to 600 computer tablets that would be fast tracked to inmates, the spokeswoman said. The tablets were originally being rolled out to inmates later this year as part of a pilot to improve staff efficiency and encourage inmates to take greater personal responsibility.
However, they would now be used to facilitate video calls, in place of contact visits, she said.
Originally published as Long Bay forensic hospital in lockdown as staff test positive to COVID-19