Premier Peter Gutwein is announcing the findings of the North West outbreak report

Health workers at the North West Regional Hospital were afraid to speak out about the COVID-19 outbreak which claimed 13 lives for “fear of retribution”. FULL FINDINGS + WATCH DELIVERY LIVE >>

• Report into the North-West outbreak highlights 17 recommendations for change
• All North-West outbreak report recommendations acted on

A COVID-19 outbreak in the state’s North West was handled with dedication and resourcefulness, but improvements are needed to computer systems, communication and the culture within the Health Department, a review has found.

The government released the independent Review: Response to the North West Tasmania COVID-19 outbreak today.

It said many people were afraid to speak out.

The report makes 37 recommendations, all of which the government supports and most of which are already being progressed.

WATCH THE UPDATE LIVE >>

It says that given the state of knowledge at the time of the April-May outbreak, the outbreak was handled well.

There were 138 cases linked to the North West and 11 deaths.

It backed the decision to close the North-West Regional and North-West Private hospitals.

“It is of great credit to the state’s emergency management system, the Department of Health and the many dedicated people who worked long and arduous hours that the outbreak was successfully contained,” the report said.

The report called for improvements to command and control systems and information technology systems in the Health Department.

And it called for cultural change to ensure people felt free to speak freely about major incidents.

“Despite appropriate assurances from the Premier and Department of Health secretary, a significant majority of those who wished to make submissions requested anonymity for fear of retribution,” the report said.

“Evidence of the action of some managers suggest that those fears are not unfounded.”

An earlier report into the causes of the cluster, released in May, revealed some staff at the North-West Regional Hospital continued to work while showing symptoms of coronavirus.

It also found that the Ruby Princess cruise ship was likely “ground zero” for the outbreak.

AMONG THE RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Upgrades for Public Health;
• Testing for all staff at a heath facility where an outbreak occurs,
• Better communication internally ahead of media announcements,
• Clarification of the need for a ‘State Health Commander’ during an outbreak,
• Renovations for staff common areas to improve social distancing.

TIMELINE OF THE NORTH-WEST OUTBREAK:

• MARCH 19: The Ruby Princess cruise ship docks in Sydney.
• MARCH 20: A Ruby Princess passenger is admitted to the medical ward of the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie. They are diagnosed with COVID-19.
• MARCH 26: Another passenger from the ill-fated cruise ship is admitted to the same ward at the hospital, becoming the second person infected with the virus to be treated there.
• MARCH 29-APRIL 2: Several healthcare workers at the NWRH experience onset of symptoms of coronavirus. Some work while symptomatic for up to six days.
• MARCH 30: An elderly woman dies from coronavirus at the NWRH. That night, a man from the state’s South, who was also a passenger on board the Ruby Princess, dies in the Royal Hobart Hospital.
• APRIL 3: Two cases of COVID-19 in healthcare workers at the NWRH are diagnosed.
• APRIL 4: A further single case of coronavirus is confirmed in a healthcare worker at the hospital. An Outbreak Management Team is set up to respond to the outbreak.
• APRIL 6: Cases among staff and patients within the NWRH and related facilities continue to increase. Two more cases are diagnosed. Police assistance is called in to support contact tracing efforts.
• APRIL 7: The North-West records its second death from coronavirus, with a man in his 80s dying at the NWRH. It is the third death statewide from the virus, with all linked to travel on the Ruby Princess.
• APRIL 7-8: A further nine cases are confirmed. A decision is made to transfer Ambulance Tasmania presentations from Devonport eastwards to the Launceston General Hospital. Visitor restrictions to hospitals and aged care facilities are extended statewide.
• APRIL 8: The medical and surgical wards at the NWRH are closed to all new admissions.
• APRIL 9: Guidelines relating to the definition of a close contact are reinterpreted, impacting the number of close contacts captured in tracing for notified cases.
• APRIL 10: A man in his late 70s with COVID-19 dies at the NWRH, the state’s fourth death from the virus.
• APRIL 11: Public Health Director Mark Veitch orders all household members of quarantining staff to be quarantined for the same time period as the staff member. Patients discharged since March 27 are told to stay in their homes for 14 days following discharge.
• APRIL 12: The state’s fifth COVID-19 death, and fourth in the North-West, is announced. A woman in her 70s dies at the NWRH. The decision to close the NWRH and NWPH and related medical services is made. All staff who have worked in these areas since March 27 (about 1300) and their household members (a further 3000-4000) are put into quarantine for 14 days.
• APRIL 13: An Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) is tasked to fly into Tasmania, with expert cleaners engaged to carry out a deep clean of the hospital. Patients from the NWRH are transferred to the Mersey.
• APRIL 14: A 91-year-old woman who was being treated at the MCH becomes the state’s sixth coronavirus death.
• APRIL 17: A 72-year-old man dies from coronavirus at the MCH. The NWRH emergency department is reopened and is initially staffed by Australian Defence Force personnel under the leadership of AUSMAT.
• APRIL 18: Tasmania records its eighth death from coronavirus, a 74-year-old man. He had been a patient at the NWRH and was later cared for at the MCH.
• APRIL 24: A ninth death from coronavirus is announced, a 79-year-old North-West woman who was being cared for at the Launceston General Hospital.
• APRIL 25: The death of a 90-year-old man from coronavirus is announced. He was being cared for at the MCH.
• APRIL 26: Another life is lost due to COVID-19, with a man in his 90s at the MCH succumbing to the disease.
• APRIL 27: Premier Peter Gutwein announces an independent review into the circumstances of the North- West outbreak. He also says a report prepared by state health officials has been completed and will be released to the public in full.
• APRIL 30: A report by Tasmanian health officials on the COVID-19 outbreak in the region is released. It comes as the state records its 12th death from coronavirus, an 86-year-old woman who was being treated at the MCH. Later in the day, another death was confirmed, an 86-year-old woman who was being cared for at the same facility. It brought the number of COVID-19 deaths in the state to 13, 12 of them in the North-West.

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