Coronavirus: states preparing for winter surge

Governments are scrambling to source their share of up to 7500 ventilators and bolster intensive care bed numbers before winter.

States are scrambling to secure a share of life-saving ventilators. Picture: AFP

Governments across Australia are scrambling to source their share of up to 7500 ventilators and bolster intensive care bed numbers by about the same number in an unprecedented drive to save lives during the feared autumn/winter coronavirus surge.

The federal government is planning for up to 7500 lifesaving ventilators in Australia if the infection rate does not flatten, to give critically ill patients a realistic chance of survival.

Health Minister Greg Hunt’s office said there were 2200 ventilated beds available now, with the capacity to surge to 4400 ventilated beds with no additional procurement. The target is for 7500 ventilators nationally to support a three-fold increase in ventilated beds across Australia and still have some in reserve.

Sources said some ventilators would come from Sydney-based manufacturer ResMed Australia.

The company is understood to be converting its CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machines — normally used to deliver constant airflow for sufferers of sleep apnoea –— to “basic ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients’’. “At the moment, there is a debate between the states and territories on whether the feds’ machines will be distributed on a per capita basis or by need,’’ one senior government source said.

NSW, Victoria and Queensland have the most COVID-19 victims, with governments across the country expecting a surge in patients in May and June and possibly later through community transmission. But early promising signs of the COVID-19 curve flattening are fuelling cautious optimism that Australia may not yet face the doomsday scenario of many thousands of deaths.

NSW has 874 ICU beds, 730 with ventilators, and its government is aiming to quadruple the number of critical care beds.

A further 545 anaesthetic machine ventilators in NSW could also be co-opted for use in COVID-19 patients.

Victoria will pump $1.3bn into the health budget to establish an extra 4000 ICU beds and has ordered hundreds of millions of items of personal protective equipment including gloves, masks and gowns. Premier Daniel Andrews said there was no room for complacency because the nation was facing the potential for a winter surge. ‘‘The national medical stockpile is doing its job, but we’re always going to have challenges,’’ he said.

Queensland has a usual base of about 500 ICU beds and similar treatment spaces across the state but will ramp up to at least 1500 with the use of surgical “recovery beds’’, which had been freed up with the suspension of some elective surgery and the co-opting of private hospital beds.

In the worst-case scenario, Queensland is also planning to convert convention centres, Brisbane’s Ekka showgrounds and mining camps into field hospitals.

So far, Queensland health authorities have not confirmed official numbers of ventilators but sources said there were about 400 ICU standard ventilators and another 450 anaesthetic ventilators that could be used if needed. Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said the state had chartered three aircraft to supplement the Royal Flying Doctor Service to transport sick patients.

The Tasmanian government said that with 40 ICU beds, the health service was working to increase capacity, including by ordering more ventilators to boost availability.

In Western Australia, the government has ordered a further 200 ICU beds, along with another 301 ventilators and 201 humidifiers. There are now 127 standard ICU beds across WA’s health system.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: PAUL GARVEY