Drysdale Clinic reopens after unvaccinated health care worker tests positive

A Drysdale doctor who had to shut down his practice due to Covid fears hospitals will be overwhelmed if medical clinics are forced to close for days after every virus scare.

The Drysdale Clinic has reopened its doors after an unvaccinated healthcare worker attended the building while positive with COVID-19.

It was revealed a large portion of the clinic’s doctors, nurses and receptionists had to isolate after a carer accompanied a patient on September 27 between 12pm and 2pm.

Practice Principal Dr David Walder confirmed the carer was both unvaccinated and asymptomatic.

The clinic typically sees around 200 patients a day with close to 1000 appointments cancelled.

“If every clinic has to shut for five days, then the ability to serve the community and keep people out of hospital will be impaired in the coming months,” he said.

“I am worried hospitals will get overwhelmed because repeatedly shutting down clinics is not sustainable.

“It won’t just be one clinic at a time, it could be 50.”

Local doctor says the Department of Health needs to recognise cleaning protocols at GPs.

The clinic was able to reopen at a reduced capacity on Monday, with the majority of staff returning the following day.

Dr Walder said in the future the Department of Health will need to be more specific with who is considered a close contact as the strain on health care services is expected to surge this month.

“Only people who have direct contact with a positive patient should be in the high-risk group,” he said.

“We have a large clinic, the room was cleaned immediately and twice more that day as well as by professionals.

“Our restrictive movement and cleaning protocols should count for something more.”

Dr Walder credited the clinic’s stringent controls for preventing the transmission of COVID-19, with no confirmed cases as of Tuesday.

“This is a very good example of why having everyone vaccinated is important, we managed to minimise the risk for our staff and patients,” he said.

Patients experiencing symptoms can only enter a special respiratory room at the clinic with a separate entrance, while the doctor is dressed in PPE.

The number of patients and their movements is also limited throughout the clinic.

“We are trying everything to minimise the risk because the prevalence will keep increasing,” he said.

Originally published as Drysdale Clinic reopens after unvaccinated health care worker tests positive