Health experts say NSW stocked and ready to fight COVID-19 outbreak

NSW is stocked and ready if the coronavirus outbreak plaguing Victoria jumps the border. The state has tripled ICU beds, increased stocks of COVID-19 testing kits, trained staff and prepared regional hospitals for a dramatic rise in cases.

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NSW health officials say the state is more than ready if the coronavirus outbreak plaguing Victoria jumps the border over the coming days.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard says NSW has tripled ICU beds, increased stocks of COVID-19 testing kits, trained staff and prepared regional hospitals for a dramatic rise in cases.

COVID-19 testers Oliver Hoang, Stephanie Freedman and Selina Hijazi. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

An extra 300,000 swab testing kits are also on the way over the next month, with more than 200,000 already in the health system.

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“NSW is very ready for whatever comes towards us, but I say that with the caveat that there are a lot of ­unknowns when you’re dealing with a one-in-100-year pandemic,” Mr Hazzard said.

“Our ICU capacity has ­almost tripled from what it was five months ago and that has meant a massive amount of work to get the additional ventilators and also make sure that we have additional staff trained to assist in ICU.”

An extra 300,000 swab testing kits are also on the way. Picture: Pablo Porciuncula/AFP

The number of ICU beds across the state has increased from about 530 to more than 1500, including 240 beds in private hospitals.

Mr Hazzard, who recommended masks should be worn if social distancing wasn’t possible, said the government had also found international supply lines to boost the state’s testing capabilities.

“At the peak of our numbers in March, I shared the concerns of our health staff that we just didn’t have access to the number of test swabs that we wanted or needed,” he said.

“So the government did an extraordinary amount of work to try and get new supply lines for the testing kits that were necessary.”

NSW Health immediately established a pop-up testing clinic in The Crossroads Hotel carpark after two patrons tested positive. Picture: David Swift

Health Minister Brad Hazzard says NSW is well prepared for any new onslaught of the coronavirus. Picture: Jeremy Piper/NCA NewsWire

Mr Hazzard said more ventilators had been ordered, with the state on track to quadruple ICU capacity.

“That should be a message in itself to the community that the government doesn’t think that we’re done with COVID,” he said.

No COVID-19 patients have required ventilators in an ICU bed since May 29.

NSW State Health Emergency Operations clinical ICU adviser Dr Nhi Nguyen said the state “is the most prepared that we can be”.

“The system and staff would be ready,” Dr Nguyen said if an outbreak occurred.

 

But Mr Hazzard warned complacency was setting in among people in the community.

“Complacency just as much as COVID-19 is very much a killer,” he said. “I’m really concerned that too many people in the community in NSW have gone into relaxed mode thinking that this pandemic has gone away.”

Seven new COVID-19 cases were recorded in NSW in the 24 hours to Friday 8pm. Five of them were returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

One was a Blue Mountains man linked to The Crossroads Hotel in Casula, with NSW Health setting up a pop-up testing clinic at the pub.

Yesterday people waited for up to three hours to get tested at the clinic.

“There’s been recent community transmission … so we’re at a critical point in the fight to contain the virus,” NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty said.

Originally published as Health experts say NSW stocked and ready to fight COVID-19 outbreak