Coronavirus: Cairns curtain maker to start manufacturing face masks, gowns for frontline health workers
There may not be much call for new curtains at the moment, but a local manufacturer is shifting gears to help make personal protective equipment for the Far North’s front line health workers.
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A CURTAIN manufacturer is planning on changing gears to start making face masks and gowns for health workers as Cairns Hospital prepares for the Far North’s first severe COVID-19 cases.
Health workers have been rationing personal protective equipment as the number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the region remains the highest outside of the state’s southeast.
It comes as the Cassowary Coast recorded its first cases, of two, yesterday, bringing the total to 26 cases of the fast-spreading virus in the Cairns health district.
Hill MP Shane Knuth said he had heard from a senior Queensland Health official that two people had tested positive to the coronavirus.
A Cairns local patient has fully recovered and is remaining self-isolated at home.
Health officials, however, have started contact tracing a cluster of three cases of COVID-19 that emerged following a March 14 wrestling match at Edmonton PCYC.
State chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said it showed there were “very early signs” of community transmission of the infection in Cairns.
She said despite all confirmed coronavirus cases being well-managed in the Far North, there would still be cases ending up in Cairns Hospital’s intensive care unit.
“We know that will happen, because we know that there’s a certain percentage of patients, particularly in the more vulnerable categories, who will need the ICU,” she said.
“But we have a fantastic ICU here and I have worked with them as long ago as the pandemic for H1N1, the swine flu, and they did a fantastic job.
“A lot of the same staff are still here.”
While the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service has assured there are adequate supplies of PPE for its staff, the health department has still asked staff to ration face masks, gowns and eye protection.
Bungalow-based InStyle Curtains and Blinds, one of only a handful of curtain manufacturers in the Far North, has approached state and federal government representatives to help boost local PPE supplies.
Owner Janice Wicks said she and her staff of 15 workers would be able to start pumping out medical-grade face masks and gowns within the next two weeks.
“We just thought if all the smaller regional areas that are able to do this, being put into service for the government, obviously it keeps our business going, and we actually provide a vital service for the community,” she said. “We can start straight away.
“We’re not a big business, able to make millions (of PPE) in a day or anything like that, but we’ll just have to see how we go.”
Health Minister Steven Miles, who was in Cairns yesterday with Dr Young, announced $152 million in extra funding to ramp up COVID-19 preparations in the Cairns health district. “That will allow (the health service) to expand their fever clinics as required, to deliver more health services in the home and into aged care facilities, and to expand intensive care ward and emergency department capacity,” he said.
ANSWERING THE CALL
A HOTLINE set up to answer Far North Queenslanders’ queries about the COVID-19 pandemic has received more than 250 calls in its first three days of operation.
Cairns Regional Council has established the Cairns coronavirus hotline
(1300 396 102) to provide advice and support about coronavirus.
Cairns Deputy Mayor Terry James said since the hotline had launched on Monday, there had been a substantial number of calls, and this was expected to rise in coming days.
“A lot of the callers are inquiring about health information and also questions about social distancing,” he said.
“We will answer questions to the best of our ability and if we don’t have the answers we will find out and call you back.”
Cairns MP Michael Healy urged people to remain at home if possible, and if people were in public they needed to adhere to social distancing measures.
The council also has a dedicated coronavirus website, cairns.qld.gov.au/council/covid19
Originally published as Coronavirus: Cairns curtain maker to start manufacturing face masks, gowns for frontline health workers
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