Omicron patient being treated in negative pressure room at Cairns Hospital
A Covid patient with the Omicron variant is being treated in a negative pressure room in Cairns as the hospital’s ICU and ventilator capacity is revealed.
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A COVID positive patient with the Omicron variant of the virus is being treated in a negative pressure room in Cairns, as the hospital’s ICU and ventilator capacity is revealed.
The man, who arrived from Nigeria, tested positive to the strain in hotel quarantine and flew into the city on flight JQ950 from Sydney on Friday, December 3.
The hospital confirmed he was in a stable condition on Thursday morning.
Cairns Hospital’s Covid Health Incident Controller Rudi De Faveri said extensive infection prevention protocols were in place to prevent the spread of the virus within the facility.
Mr De Faveri said all staff treating the patient had been double-vaccinated and wearing personal protective equipment.
“A concierge service has also been established outside the treatment area to ensure anyone entering the space has taken proper steps to prevent spread of the virus, including being double-vaccinated and wearing appropriate PPE,” he said.
Acting Chief Health Officer Dr Peter Aitken said the man could still be moved to Townsville in a pre-emptive move to ensure capacity in the Far North hospital.
There are currently 16 intensive care unit beds and “at least 30 ventilators” available across the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service.
Mr De Faveri said the hospital’s ICU had adequate patient capacity “but this can change at any moment due to clinical demand.”
“The best way to protect our local health system, is for as many people as possible to be vaccinated, as there is scientific evidence that vaccination reduces the likelihood of serious illness, hospitalisation and death” he said.
Dr Aitken acknowledged that the Cairns ICU was a “struggle”.
“Remember it also serves a large population of the Cape,” he said.
“It’s balancing that capacity to maintain the care to the rest of the community as well as making sure (the Covid patient) is looked after in a safe and appropriate environment.”
It comes as Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch called for calm in relation to the South African strain of the virus.
He said the community and governments needed to normalise Covid.
“We need to build a bridge and get over this and get on with our lives,” he said.
“We know enough about it to manage it now.
“We’ve had nearly two years to prepare for it, we have a majority of the population vaccinated.”
He said the new Omicron strain was not hospitalising vaccinated people.
“It is inevitable that there will always be new strains, but the longer we go the more we learn about it and the easier it is to manage, as we are seeing with the South African strain.”
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Originally published as Omicron patient being treated in negative pressure room at Cairns Hospital
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