Coronavirus tests now being done at SA Pathology’s RAH lab
A passenger has been taken for testing after falling ill on a flight to Adelaide. Meanwhile SA is scaling up its testing speed and capacity.
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A passenger who fell feverishly ill after takeoff while on a flight to Adelaide was met at the airport by SA Health workers and taken for testing, officials have confirmed.
Health authorities are not releasing full details, including the airline involved, but it is understood two people were taken for tests after the airline crew radioed ahead.
The development comes as the number of people in South Australia who have been tested has risen to 56, with the two known confirmed cases, 15 negative results and the rest pending.
SA Health Chief Public Health Officer Dr Nicola Spurrier said arrivals who had been in China may come to Adelaide on domestic flights.
“However somebody may become sick flying to Adelaide on a domestic flight and as I understand it from the flight this morning (Monday) there was a phone-ahead and that was the reason health officers were able to have those passengers taken off the flight and were taken for testing,” Dr Spurrier said.
“Until we actually know the test results it is difficult to say (if others were exposed) and I don’t have any history of where these people came from.”
Dr Spurrier also welcomed news that arrivals from China were self-isolating in hotels.
“I’m actually very happy to hear there are people who have been self-isolating in hotels, people who have to bring food and clean those rooms would be concerned, but we have very detailed information which has been provided to the hotel industry,” she said.
Meanwhile officials are urgently contacting people who were on China Southern flight CZ 663 from Guangzhou, which landed in Adelaide on January 21 with the couple, both aged 60, confirmed with the virus.
The couple, who travelled from Wuhan, are in isolation in the Royal Adelaide Hospital as officials retrace their steps after arrival in Adelaide checking for other contacts. “Anybody who was on this flight is encouraged to contact the communicable disease branch of SA Health and discuss whether or not they have developed symptoms themselves,” Dr Spurrier said. “We will be trying to make contact with as many people on that flight as possible, particularly people who were situated close to these two cases.”
SA Pathology now has the capacity to perform tests but will continue to send tests to Victoria this week for confirmation.
This process takes 48 hours but should be reduced to 24 hours once they are done solely at a laboratory in the RAH.
SA Pathology clinical services director Dr Tom Dodd said there was the capacity to scale up the testing “to meet clinical demand.”
Private and public schools are following SA Health advice with warnings to parents that: “Children or staff who travelled to mainland China must isolate themselves in their home for 14 days after leaving mainland China if they left mainland China on or after 1 February 2020.”
Ambos could not cope with outbreak
– Mitch Mott
The state’s ambulance service would “not cope” with patient demand if there was an outbreak of the coronavirus, the head of the paramedics union has warned.
State Secretary of the Ambulance Employees Association Phil Palmer appearing in the state Employment Tribunal, warned that ramping, exhausted paramedics and scant resources left South Australia vulnerable to pandemics or natural disasters.
“The system has struggled in previous flu seasons,” he said. “If there was an outbreak this year it would be very dangerous for all south Australians.
“All the current solutions are only Band-Aids. Capacity in our hospitals is the real problem and we need to match resources to the work loads.”
Mr Palmer said that serious incidents like this season’s bushfires or a bus crash would stretch paramedics to the breaking point and put patient welfare at risk.
The association has taken the South Australian Ambulance Service to the tribunal in an attempt to improve the working conditions of paramedics.
Mr Palmer said that an ageing population combined with increased complexity of cases and more awareness of the ambulance service was leading to a rise in paramedic workload.
Last year South Australia endured a record bad flu season which killed 92 people and infected more than 20,000 people. The spread of the virus put pressure on both ambulance service resources and resulted in lengthy ambulance response times.
At the end of Monday’s tribunal hearing, SA Health were contacted for comment.
The outbreak of the coronavirus is being monitored by SA Health as well as federal health agencies.
Virus doctor left in the waiting room
The top doctor overseeing SA Health’s response to the coronavirus left a parliamentary committee before she could give a local update on the crisis yesterday, after accusations of “political games”.
Chief Public Health officer Associate Professor Nicola Spurrier left the committee in a rush without giving evidence, after repeatedly checking her phone.
SA Health deputy chief executive Don Frater told the committee: “Nicola had to go.”
SA Health chief executive Dr Chris McGowan had asked the budget and finance committee to allow a swift update on the disease so Dr Spurrier could return to her work.
However, committee chair, Labor MLC Kyam Maher refused the request and instead questioned Dr McGowan for almost an hour on the fallout from a report on his alleged conflict of interest, which Dr McGowan said had effectively cleared him.
He then allowed fellow Labor MLC Justin Hanson to continue the line of questioning despite Dr McGowan telling the committee the issues were not time-sensitive but Dr Spurrier’s work is.
The request was ignored, prompting Liberal MLC Terry Stephens to say to Labor members: “Where are your priorities, seriously?”
Mr Maher responded by saying SA Health could issue a press release on the killer virus.
A clearly annoyed Dr McGowan said after the meeting: “I was absolutely frustrated, we have a rapidly emerging issue in public health and I’d rather be getting on with that than playing political games.
“Our public health team have been working 12 hours a day, it’s a difficult and stressful time. There is a lot on Dr Spurrier’s plate – I don’t see why she could not have made her comments and left, it was very frustrating for both of us.”
An increasingly acrimonious hearing examined Dr McGowan on the fallout of the report into his alleged conflict of interest with former employer Silver Chain – which Dr McGowan said effectively cleared him – including what counsel he had received from Premier Steven Marshall and what coaching he would receive from the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment Erma Ranieri.
Dr McGowan said he had a private conversation with the Premier and was looking forward to “a coffee and a chat” with the Commissioner but could not foreshadow what coaching she had in mind, adding: “It’s a bit of a mystery”.
Asked by Mr Maher what “his greatest failure” was as chief executive, Mr McGowan instead pointed out he had inherited effectively a basket case, citing a litany of woes in health and the solutions being put in place including: “We at last have some proper, grown up governance. I reckon the Premier should be pretty happy with progress and the public should be as well.”