Man in his late 70s dies falls victim to coronavirus at North West Regional Hospital

Another elderly Tasmanian has fallen victim to coronavirus, with a man in his late 70s dying in Burnie’s North West Regional Hospital on Friday.

ANOTHER elderly Tasmanian has fallen victim to coronavirus, with a man in his late 70s dying in Burnie’s North West Regional Hospital on Friday.

It is Tasmania’s fourth death from the virus from 111 confirmed cases, representing a mortality rate of 3.6 per cent — the worst in the country.

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The death comes as health authorities take drastic steps to try and bring under control an outbreak of the virus at the hospital which now accounts for more than one fifth of Tasmania’s cases.

All staff who worked in the medical and surgical wards at the NWRH will be placed into quarantine for 14 days, with accommodation provided for those who cannot do so at home.

Staff from the Mersey Community Hospital will be redeployed and that hospital’s emergency department will close from Saturday.

A patient with coronavirus at the Mersey will be transferred to an area of the NWRH being used to treat COVID-19 patients.

Medical staff will remain at the Latrobe hospital to triage and treat emergency cases, but surgery has been stopped and patients at the site are being consolidated.

Meanwhile, anyone discharged either from the NWRH or the Mersey will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney said officials were contacting NWRH staff to understand individual circumstances and provide support to them in quarantine.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

About 50 staff from the Burnie hospital are already in self-isolation, but the latest measures will see at least a further 100 medical, nursing, allied health and support staff quarantined.

Ms Courtney said staff would be tested in coming days and even if they did not test positive, they would remain in quarantine.

“The steps that we have taken are above and beyond the guidelines, but we have taken them as a precautionary approach because we prioritise the welfare of our staff, our patients and the North-West community,’’ she said.

Ms Courtney said there would be no new admissions to the medical or surgical ward at the NWRH, but its intensive care unit and emergency department would continue to operate.

Meanwhile, Ambulance Tasmania has been advised to take patients east of Penguin to the Launceston General Hospital.

Ms Courtney said the Department of Health would take operational control of the North West Private Hospital to ensure a consistent approach as the outbreak investigation continues.

The investigation has become more complex, with Tasmania’s chief medical officer, Professor Tony Lawler saying there had been a clarification of national guidelines in the past 24 hours about what constitutes a close contact.

Tasmanian Chief Medical Officer Tony Lawler. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

“What this means is that we have potentially underestimated the number of close contacts from those that we have assessed,’’ he said.

Prof Lawler said the advice was that all contact tracing across the state did not need to be analysed again, but should be done retrospectively in high-risk settings like hospitals.

Prof Lawler said the latest approach to quarantine such a large number of staff was conservative and taking into account the risk to the community.

Political leaders passed on their condolences to the family, friends and loved one of the state’s latest coronavirus victim.

“The tragic passing is a stark reminder that we must continue to abide by the measures we have put in place, and continue to do all we can to keep Tasmanians safe and secure,’’ Premier Peter Gutwein said.

Labor leader Rebecca White said the news was another reminder that COVID-19 is deadly.

“We should all realise by now that COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate. It is not a distant threat - it is within our community right now,’’ she said.

“We can all play a part in stopping the spread of this disease by staying home.”