Coronavirus: 17 people in hospital at Northern Beaches, North Shore, Ryde, Hornsby
Details have emerged regarding 17 COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at hospitals in Sydney’s north. It comes amid warnings from one hospital boss that stocks of hand sanitiser are already low.
Manly
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Seventeen COVID-19 patients are receiving treatment in hospitals across Sydney’s north, with many others isolating from home.
Three new coronavirus patients are at Northern Beaches Hospital, according to a source. Two other inpatients at the Frenchs Forest site including a woman in her 30s have already fully recovered and been discharged.
Meanwhile, there are a further 14 coronavirus inpatients across Royal North Shore, Ryde and Hornsby hospitals, according to the Northern Sydney Local Health District.
A spokesman for the local health authority said there are additional COVID-19 patients currently managing at home in isolation, but those figures were not available at the time of publishing.
It comes as the Northern Beaches Hospital CEO Andrew Newton said in a staff update yesterday that “we are entering an unprecedented time in global history”.
He said the hospital had opened an emergency operations centre manned 16 hours
a day, to manage beds, staffing and resourcing.
He also said elective procedures in ear, nose and throat, and gastroscopy procedures, apart from urgent ones, will no longer occur at the hospital until further notice.
A respiratory cohort zone has also been set up in the emergency department and a respiratory cohort ward has been set up in Ward 4C.
Mr Newton also warned that personal protective equipment, which includes masks and protective eyewear, will become more difficult to obtain in the coming weeks and months.
“Hand sanitiser is already becoming scarce so should be used as a secondary option to handwashing,” he said.
He also thanked staff for their “dedication, professionalism, and empathetic approach”.
In another newsletter hospital management said although regular stocks are available, management was asking staff to wash hands with soap and water if possible to save on hand gel.
“Please use handwashing as your first choice,” it said.
“Remember this is just as effective as gel.”
