Covid NSW: Liverpool Hospital Delta outbreak spans multiple wards

Dozens of people, including staff and patients, have tested positive for Covid-19 at a major Sydney hospital in the past week.

Investigations are underway at Liverpool Hospital to confirm if four separate outbreaks at the site in the past week are connected to each other as 28 staff were forced into isolation.

The hospital had previously reported they had six separate exposures in the period but further testing has revealed that there were four.

The new tests also ruled out three previously reported positive cases, including one in the cardiothoracic ward.

Authorities are scrambling to uncover how five fully vaccinated staff and 20 patients all tested positive across the orthopaedic, renal, neurology and geriatric wards tested positive.

An ICU nurse also tested positive but no patients in the ward tested positive – it’s understood that she is not connected to the other outbreaks.

This is the third major outbreak at the South-West Sydney hospital in recent months despite 97 per cent of staff having received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard confirmed an investigation into links between the cases was underway but argued hospital outbreaks were inevitable.

“They’re doing some investigations to try and work out what actually has occurred with the intrusion of the virus into the hospital,” Mr Hazzard said.

“Almost every hospital in the world has had intrusions … but (Liverpool) are trying to work out what has caused the issue.”

Liverpool Hospital is in the midst of a major Covid outbreak. Picture: Jonathan Ng

About 24 patients are positive across multiple wards. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

A Western Sydney Local Health District spokesman said contact tracing is underway.

“There have been six exposure events at the hospital over the past week,” the spokesman said.

“All patients who have tested positive are receiving appropriate care and are in isolation.”

All positive staff are fully vaccinated, while about 97 per cent of staff at Liverpool Hospital are vaccinated with at least one dose, according to WSLHD.

The vaccination status of the 24 infected patients has not been revealed yet.

It comes as Liverpool Hospital saw another outbreak in August linked to the geriatric and vascular wards when a student nurse worked onsite while positive.

Eleven deaths have been linked to the August cluster.