Qld Health investigate moving COVID-19 patients to a dedicated hospital following Princess Alexandra ward spread
Health authorities are investigating a ward within a Brisbane hospital to find out why coronavirus spread in circumstances labelled ‘very unusual’ in one case.
Queensland health officials are unsure how long a troubled ward within the Princess Alexandra Hospital will be closed while they race to determine how it caused two COVID-19 clusters that crossed into NSW.
Ward 5D at the hospital has been closed and subjected to a “deep clean” after a doctor and a nurse working in that ward became infected on the job weeks apart.
Both unknowingly took the virus out into Brisbane and caused two clusters, one of which spread south of the border to Byron Bay in northern NSW.
On Good Friday, a second PA Hospital nurse emerged as a historical case.
She and the doctor caught the virus while treating the same returned traveller at the hospital.
On Sunday, Queensland recorded no new coronavirus cases overnight but health officials are trying to work out how the 5D ward has caused COVID-19 chaos over Easter.
“What we've identified … is it appears at this stage that it’s something to do with the environment in that ward,” Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said on Sunday.
“That's why we have moved people out of that ward and we’ve done a deep clean, because we’ve seen two different individuals coming in as positive cases at different times infecting two health workers each.
MS D’Ath said they would now look at what factors contributed to coronavirus spreading in the ward.
“There certainly was, in the most recent case, very unusual circumstances and not related to a breach of PPE,” she said.
“That’s exactly what the investigation will look at, what are the other factors?
I think I’ve said here before there are a range of factors for transmission of the virus and PPE is one such thing. Air flow, ventilation - we’ve seen those issues in hotel quarantine as well. It is a virus that given any opportunity it will find a way to spread.”
The outbreak has caused QLD Health to re-evaluate its approach to treating infectious COVID-19 patients.
“We are looking at other options of having a single area in one hospital where we can bring COVID patients, instead of spreading them over different hospitals in Brisbane,” Ms D’Ath said.
“We believe that will reduce the risk and help with our resources and making sure it is only health workers who (have been) vaccinated are working as staff,” she said.
Meanwhile, one COVID-19 case was recorded in an overseas traveller overnight.
Deputy chief health officer Dr Sonya Bennett said the latest overseas case was currently in hotel quarantine and had recently arrived from Pakistan.
It comes after Queensland recorded one new locally acquired case of COVID-19 on Saturday following the easing of Brisbane’s snap three-day lockdown on Thursday.
Ms D’Ath said state health officials were now confident they had the two COVID-19 clusters under control.
“(It is) fantastic news. That, along with the one case yesterday, the one locally acquired case that was already in quarantine really highlights, I think, that we are making great progress in this most recent outbreak,” Ms D’Ath said.
“We know COVID is not over and we are seeing still some disturbing statistics internationally – positive cases are happening every day overseas and people’s lives are being lost.”
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