Coronavirus: Infected medical staff kept working in Tasmania

Medical staff in northwest Tasmania continued to work despite having symptoms, say health officials.

Tasmania’s Public Health Director Dr Mark Veitch. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Medical staff in northwest Tasmania continued to work despite having symptoms and this was an “important factor” in the region’s major COVID-19 outbreak, say health officials.

Public Health Director Mark Veitch on Tuesday said new cases in the northwest outbreak were “trailing off”, with five new cases overnight bringing the total to 112.

Dr Veitch said a number of factors had been identified as potentially playing a role in the outbreak, which restricted access to several regional hospitals.

“We know that there were a number of staff who had symptoms when they were working over the time of the outbreak; often relatively mild symptoms,” Dr Veitch said.

“And we think that is probably an important factor. We also know that staff in hospitals can mix in (shift) handover rooms and various settings where it is ­impossible to maintain social ­distancing. We think that could have been a factor.

“We also know there were some unrecognised cases among patients that could have contributed to transmission. And at the very start of it, we know that there were two people admitted as ­infections arising from the Ruby Princess (cruise ship).”

Statewide, Tasmania had 200 cases as of Tuesday morning, as it confirmed plans to increase testing. On a per-capita basis, the state now has the highest incidence of COVID-19, with 37.2 cases for every 100,000 people, passing NSW’s total of 35.8.

Queensland and Victoria have the lowest per-capita rate of any state at 19.7 per 100,000 people, while the Northern Territory has only recorded 10.7 cases for every 100,000 people.

Dr Veitch would not comment on claims that some northwest Tasmanian health workers held a dinner party that may have contributed to the outbreak among staff. “The police are undertaking an investigation and as an operational matter it is not … for me to comment,” he said. “When we did our contact tracing … we found that across the cases that we dealt with there seemed to be very few gatherings of any kind undertaken by staff.”

As of Tuesday morning, the virus had infected 72 staff at Tasmania’s North West Regional and other local hospitals, as well as 22 patients, 11 household contacts and seven other contacts.

“The number of cases associated with that outbreak seems to be trailing off and that’s encouraging,” Dr Veitch said. “That’s a pos­it­ive sign for Burnie’s community and healthcare workers there.”