Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital brings dozens of new beds online as more cases arrive from PNG

The Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital plans to bring dozens of new beds online to cope with the anticipated rise in COVID-19 cases travelling into Queensland from PNG.

Queensland’s largest public hospital will bring dozens of extra beds online to cope with the high numbers of positive COVID-19 cases travelling into the state from Papua New Guinea.

The Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital has been undertaking detailed planning to expand its bed numbers, with more than half of Queensland’s 65 active COVID-19 cases acquiring the virus in PNG.

One of the state’s latest three cases, all detected in hotel quarantine, had travelled from PNG, where the health system has been described as “on the brink of collapse”.

Bed capacity is being expanded at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital to cater for the anticipated increase in positive COVID-19 patients travelling into Queensland from PNG. Photo: Jono Searle.

Interim head of mission for Medecins Sans Frontieres, Doctors Without Borders, in PNG, Ghulam Nabi, said hospitals there were struggling with COVID-19 cases tripling “in a matter of weeks”.

“Increasing numbers of healthcare staff are testing positive,” Mr Nabi said. “They have to isolate and can’t go to work.

“Various healthcare services have been restricted and the remaining staff are concerned as they expect a major disruption to healthcare services.”

At Rita Flynn Hospital, one of the two major hospitals in Port Moresby, almost 40 per cent of people getting tested are positive for COVID-19.

Of Queensland’s 65 active cases, 31 are being cared for by the Metro North Hospital and Health Service, which takes in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

“The increasing number of positive cases around the world, including the situation unfolding in PNG is concerning and has required us to rethink how we can contain the risk to our Queensland community and best support our overseas neighbours,” a Queensland Health spokesman said.

“We’re expanding capacity in Metro North … to take COVID positive patients. These are extra beds.”

The proportion of people returning from overseas who are testing positive for COVID-19 in hotel quarantine in Queensland is estimated to be nearly 23 times higher now than in October 2020.

It was 0.11 per cent of total numbers in the week ending October 11 last year and 2.5 per cent last week.

Since the pandemic began, Queensland has recorded 1429 confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the state’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has reminded Queenslanders to remain vigilant about symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 after fragments of the virus were detected at the Luggage Point wastewater treatment plant, which services large parts of Brisbane.

“It is very important people with symptoms come forward right away and get tested – we can’t be complacent, we’re still in this pandemic,” Dr Young said.

“It is critical we detect any cases that we may not be aware of as quickly as possible through our testing system, to contain any potential spread.”

Symptoms of COVID-19 include a fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue, diarrhoea, nausea or vomiting and loss of taste or smell.