Investigations ongoing into infection of two North West Regional Hospital workers

An Incident Management Team has worked through the night to hunt down the possible source of coronavirus infection of two medical ward staff members in the state’s North-West.

A TEAM has worked through the night investigating two cases of coronavirus linked to a northern hospital, with hopes more information may come to light about how two healthcare workers were infected.

On Friday night, Tasmanian chief medical officer Tony Lawler announced that two staff members from the North West Regional Hospital medical ward had tested positive to the virus.

Acting Director of Public Health Scott McKeown said this was a very serious incident, with investigations ongoing as of Saturday morning.

Scott McKeown. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

It was hoped the investigations may lead to a source of infection for the two workers, he said.

“One of the urgent immediate tasks is to identify [and] control any risk that would be posed to any staff member or patients by the infected healthcare workers, and that includes very rapidly identifying any members of staff who were close contacts with those two cases and ensuring that they don't attend work, that they go home and that they enter a period of 14 days quarantine,” he said.

“The other important task is for the team to investigate if they have any significant contact between the confirmed cases and any patients. That's an ongoing process and I'm not able to provide any further information about that at this stage.

“The other very important task from the health service and healthcare worker perspective is to investigate any possible sources of their infection from within the healthcare setting.”

“I need to stress that this investigation is to ensure the safety of patients, staff at the facility and the public in the North-West region so that they can continue to have confidence in the care that's provided at the North-West Regional Hospital.”

Health Minister Sarah Courtney assured Tasmanians, particularly those from the North-West, that everything possible was being done to resolve and manage the situation and that the hospital would operate as usual.

Sarah Courtney. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

“We are working proactively and indeed have been working throughout the night,” she said.

“Our priority is the safety of our staff and our patients as well as our broader community. And when we do have more information about the we will make sure that is provided.”

The Incident Management Team investigating is led by Professor Lawler alongside other local leaders.

Investigations are also ongoing into the sources of infection for two coronavirus cases in Devonport.