Covid patients stranded at home as NSW Health struggles to cope with pandemic

This teenage Covid victim spent three weeks in a makeshift bubble in his bedroom because an over-stretched NSW Health ‘forgot’ to release him from isolation.

Meet the boy in the bubble — a teenager trapped in his bedroom for three weeks because NSW Health has “forgotten” to let him out.

And he’s not the only one — many people isolating at home after returning positive Covid tests say nobody is calling them to officially allow them out, despite having isolated themselves for at least two weeks in accordance with the guidelines.

This 18-year-old has been isolated in his home since August 13 and his family thinks health authorities have forgotten about him. Picture: Supplied

Tired of waiting, the family of this 18-year-old apprentice from Lidcombe in Sydney’s Cumberland local government area — one of the state’s 12 “hotspot” councils — turned to their local MP to help.

To keep the rest of the family safe, their son was walled off by a tarpaulin his parents taped up, separating his bedroom and toilet from the rest of the house.

The teenager’s mother, father and two younger siblings, aged 16 and seven years, managed to avoid contracting the virus, as confirmed by multiple negative Covid tests.

While NSW Health guidelines declare a patient must remain in self-isolation for the number of days determined by the designated health practitioner — “ usually 14 days” —

as of Thursday the family had not had any contact by a health official to release their son.

The teenager, who contracted Covid from a co-worker, had not been outdoors since he placed himself into self-isolation on August 13.

After calling various health hotlines, including the local health district “about 20 times”, the teen’s desperate mother — who did not want to be identified — emailed her local Labor MP Lynda Voltz for help.

“His mental health is suffering being locked away from family members and being singled out,” she wrote.

“He needs some fresh air.

“I have tried for days to call public health units and the doctors and every other number available and no response or reply.

“It’s like he’s been forgotten. Please help us get him discharged before it really starts to affect him.”

Auburn MP Lynda Voltz.

Speaking to The Saturday Telegraph on Wednesday, she told of her fears about her son’s deteriorating mental health.

“After my son’s co-worker tested positive, we knew he possibly would have it and so he did a test on the Friday. It was negative but he did another test on Sunday and that was positive,” she said.

“NSW Health contacted him about three to four days afterwards and gave us some advice. But we had already taken steps to contain it, putting up a plastic tarp so his bedroom and the main bathroom were separated from the rest of the house.

“He has his computer and TV, and we bought him a kettle and mini fridge, but he hasn’t been outside.

“He was told to isolate for two weeks and then we would get a call from somebody to discharge him. We were told someone would also call every couple of days but we’ve heard from no one.

“The police actually came once to check we were isolating because they knew there was a confirmed case here, but they interested in us not him.

“We said ‘he’s at the back of the house’, and they said: ‘Oh we don’t need to see him’.

“He’s been doing all the right stuff. He said he feels abandoned. The washing is piling up. The rubbish is piling up. He just wants to go back to work.”

The woman said her son had been largely asymptomatic, coughing one day and briefly losing his sense of taste.

“There must be hundreds of people at home waiting for a call,” she said.

“I’d gladly volunteer to ring people up.”

The NSW Health website states that people who test positive must remain in self-isolation until they are “clinically released from isolation”.

“Active cases are defined as people who have tested positive for COVID-19, are in isolation, and are being clinically monitored by NSW Health,” the department website states.

“The local clinical team will tell you when you may be released from isolation.

“They will contact you at the end of your isolation period to confirm if you can be released.

“They will tell you if you need to get a test before you are released. Most people don’t need to get a test.”

The latest NSW Health figures to August 31 show there were 18,960 locally-acquired active Covid cases in the state, with the vast majority convalescing at home.

The rest are being treated in hospital or are staying in a designated “health hotel”.

Ms Voltz said the Lidcombe family was among four households with a member who was isolating with Covid that had contacted her electorate office about the lack of guidance from health authorities.

Other cases included a family whose two children had been contacted to confirm they had been clinically released but not their father, who was still waiting for verification that he could stop self-isolating.

A Chinese-speaking couple contacted Ms Voltz via a translator after also failing to be clinically released after 14 days, with the translator declaring the husband and wife had run out of food.

Another young man contacted the office to ask if he could leave because he had reached 14 days even though nobody had contacted him to issue a formal release.

In the case of the Lidcombe family, Ms Voltz said she contacted Western Sydney Local Health District executive director Graeme Loy on Wednesday to help fast-track the teen’s discharge.

The following day, the family was told their son could leave his isolation room, but not the house until he had received a formal email which could “take a few days”, meaning he could still not return to work, his mother said.

Ms Voltz said the state government should have anticipated that if all the Covid cases were in Western Sydney, it would need more resources.

“I shouldn’t have to ring the head of area health who is already under pressure dealing with a health system that is under so much stress just to get a kid released from isolation,” she said.

A NSW Health spokesman said the Western Sydney Local Health District was caring for almost 4000 COVID patients in the community, and had partnered with healthcare providers to help manage the caseload, while also streamlining the discharge process

“If any Covid patients have concerns with their discharge from isolation, they can contact their GP, local healthcare team or the Western Sydney Local Health District Public Health Unit,” he said.

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Originally published as Covid patients stranded at home as NSW Health struggles to cope with pandemic