Macquarie University lecturer and aged care worker from Macquarie Park aged care have COVID-19
An 82-year-old man being tested for COVID-19 at BaptistCare Dorothy Henderson Lodge Aged Care Centre has been confirmed as having the virus. The resident was under the care of a staff member who was diagnosed on Tuesday night. This afternoon Macquarie University confirmed one of their lecturers was also one of the state’s confirmed COVID-19 cases.
NSW
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An 82-year-old man being tested for COVID-19 at BaptistCare Dorothy Henderson Lodge Aged Care Centre has been confirmed as having the virus.
The resident was under the care of a staff member at the Macquarie Park aged care centre who was confirmed as having the coronavirus on Tuesday night.
Macquarie University also confirmed on Wednesday that one of the state’s confirmed male coronavirus cases was a lecturer in the Science and Engineering faculty who had just returned from a trip to Iran and immediately sought medical attention once the symptoms appeared.
A Macquarie University spokesman said there was no evidence that the Baptist Aged Care worker diagnosed with the disease on Wednesday had been in contact with anyone from the university.
“Our staff member has not been present at Macquarie University’s campus since returning from Iran and has had no contact with either staff or students,” the spokesman said.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard confirmed earlier Wednesday the BaptistCare Dorothy Henderson Lodge Aged Care Centre staff member had worked with 13 residents at the centre. One of which, a 95-year-old woman with respiratory problems has since died but it is not yet known whether she had contracted the virus.
The aged care worker first started showing symptoms on February 24 but had not travelled outside of Australia.
She is now being treated at North Shore Hospital and is in a stable condition.
Infection control staff attended the facility on Tuesday night and registered nurses contacted the families of the residents.
Mr Hazzard said it was concerning that the woman contracted the virus despite not travelling to China or other countries affected by the deadly virus.
“She had not been overseas and she had not been to the hot spots which raises the question how did she get the coronavirus,” Mr Hazzard said.
“We did the checks and we are aware that she is capable of passing on the coronavirus from the 23rd of February,” Mr Hazzard said.
The woman is the second health care worker to have the virus, a 53-year-old doctor from Ryde Hospital has also been diagnosed, but neither had been overseas.
A spokesman for Dorothy Henderson Lodge said: “BaptistCare can confirm an employee from Dorothy Henderson Lodge has been diagnosed with coronavirus (COVID-9).
“We are working closely with the NSW Health to ensure the safety of our residents and staff.”
Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy said it was “unfortunate” if the aged care worker had been working while ill.
“If that is true, that woman unfortunately went to work for a number of shifts when she was unwell, that is very unfortunate,” he said.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said he had been advised the worker was only diagnosed with coronavirus late Tuesday night, which meant details of the case were only revealed today.
“On identification (NSW Health) have acted swiftly and immediately,” he said.
“On the circumstances behind the individual, they will be carrying out a very, very clear investigation as they do with contact tracing.
“I do know that 11 patients have been isolated as a consequence of identifying those patients with whom the worker had potentially, had contact.”
Meanwhile, the Health Services Union today offered to temporarily lift the home testing ban to try and ease congestion in emergency departments.
“We are normally reluctant to suggest extra duties for the State’s already overstretched paramedic workforce. However, these are not normal times,” HSU NSW Secretary Gerard Hayes said.
“Coronavirus will add massive strain to the flu season by clogging up emergency departments and medical centres. This also creates an environment for the virus to spread,” he said.
The union also called on treasurer Dominic Perrottet to pump an extra $100 million into the health system to “cope with this extraordinary state of affairs.”
NSW chief heath officer Kerry Chant said they will be putting a list of flight details on their website detailing which planes people who tested positive on coronavirus flew on.
“We have obviously had an increase case of travellers who have returned and been overseas in some of those cases we are initiating and have commenced contact tracing in relation to the plane,” Dr Chant said.
“People seated in the same row as a case or two rows in front or two rows behind a coronavirus confirmed case is defined as close contact. They are advised to self quarantine at home for 14 days and seek medical attention if symptoms present.
“The rest of passengers are requested to be alert for symptoms.”
Dr Chant also warned people not to believe social media posts unless they have been verified by NSW Health, after reports began circulating for community members to avoid Fairfield after a person presented themselves to a medical practice.
“Social media posts saying to stay away from the area are untrue … anyone at the practice during that time has been contacted,” Dr Chant said.
Mr Hazzard responded to the hysteria of shoppers stripping bare supermarket shelves of everyday essentials including toilet paper and said: “The response I’ve seen at our supermarkets has been quite ridiculous … Woolworths, Coles and Aldi will get us the supply.”
“It is 14 days not six months. It’s a bit silly the way things are going.”
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COVID-19 cases confirmed on Tuesday included a 39-year-old man who recently arrived from Iran, a 53-year-old man from Singapore, two women in their 60s — one from South Korea and another woman from Japan, another man in his 30s from Iran and the 53-year-old aged care worker who is believed to have acquired the illness locally.
Earlier on Tuesday Premier Gladys Berejiklian said four of the NSW cases had recovered from the virus.
“What is positive however is that four cases that have been diagnosed have recovered,” she said.
“NSW Health is constantly reviewing new potential cases and undertaking contact tracking as they call it of all persons who had associations with the confirmed cases.”
More than 93,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide, and over 3100 people have died.
As the situation worsens, The Daily Telegraph can exclusively reveal the Morrison government is in the final stages of preparing a national campaign to educate the community about how to protect themselves from the virus.
The mass communication strategy, which would include TV, print and online ads, and educational materials such as posters, is expected to be rolled out within weeks.
The health advice will focus on personal hygiene and other strategies individuals can take to avoid catching coronavirus. It will be informed by Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy in conjunction with his state and territory counterparts.
It is understood the mass rollout would include material in a number of languages.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday called for calm amid reports of people panic-buying canned foods, toilet paper, hand sanitiser and other supermarket essentials: “It is important that people just go about their business and their normal processes in a calm manner.”
Meanwhile, South Australia has amended its own Public Health Act that would allow the government to detain a person if they are considered to be engaging in conduct that “creates a risk of spreading disease”.
In NSW a registered medical practitioner can be delegated with the authority to make a public health order if a person has a condition such as coronavirus and poses a risk to the community. The order can direct a person to seek treatment or self-isolate and police could be asked to arrest someone who failed to comply.
Attorney-General Christian Porter has also outlined what new biosecurity measures could look like for Australians if the virus continues to spread: “If you had something that’s described as a fever clinic where people are able to coalesce and return to health after the acute fever that occurs with coronavirus — people visiting relatives or medical staff coming in and out, might be required to undergo certain requirements such as decontamination.”
Mr Porter said it was likely there would be more restrictions on people “coming and going” into places. “People are used to walking into hospitals in Australia … without necessarily having to go through a decontamination or being questioned,” he said. “It may be that, as this disease does roll through the Australian community that those type of circumstances will change.”