Covid-19 could interrupt cancer, heart attack patients: Dr David Andresen

An infectious diseases expert from a top hospital says NSW can cope with Sydney’s Covid-19 outbreak, but it will come at a cost.

Infectious disease experts believe NSW hospitals can cope with Sydney’s Covid-19 outbreak but have admitted people with cancer, heart conditions and strokes are the patients who will suffer.

NSW recorded 77 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, and Premier Gladys Berejiklian hinted Monday’s numbers would be more than 100.

With more than 50 people in hospital with Covid-19, there are fears the state’s hospital system may not be able to run efficiently if the outbreak worsens.

St Vincent’s Hospital infectious diseases physician David Andresen said it could cope, but there would be a price to pay.

“The system can cope but what you have to realise is that winter is already our busy time,” Dr Andresen said.

“We already had, even before this Covid wave, unprecedented bed block (lack of hospital beds) across the state and we are still doing elective surgery.

“The Covid clinical activity comes on top of what is already an extremely busy time for the healthcare system.

“We can cope, and we will cope, but it comes at the expense of other activities the healthcare system is meant to be doing, such as elective surgery.

Hospitals are tipped to be pushed to their limits if Sydney’s Covid outbreak worsens. Picture: Chris Kidd

“If things get worse some of the other activities need to get switched off to make intensive care beds and make ward beds for Covid patients.

“It just makes everything we do less efficient and means we can‘t do our normal jobs.

“We can’t look after patients with cancer, with heart attacks, with strokes as efficiently as we could if we weren’t looking after Covid as well.”

Epidemiologist Marylouise McLaws said there was no chance Sydney would be coming out of lockdown on Saturday.

She said it would likely last for at least another three to four weeks.

Experts say Sydney could be locked down for another four weeks. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

“Look, the trend is going up for the proportion of people who are not in isolation (when they test positive) at all, which then tells me there is a great deal of probability of more cases,” she said.

“And so that’s going skyward at the moment. I suggest that we’re in a lockdown for at least another three to four weeks, and then looking at whether or not you’ve got this under control, you need another couple of weeks to see that you’ve got zero.

“A whole 28 days of zeros says you’ve got eradication.

“That 28 days doesn't mean you have to be in hard lockdown, it means you’ve then got to be in certain restrictions. It’s certainly a hard lockdown for at least another three or four weeks.”