“Confused rules” around mask-wearing and social distancing in hospitals pose a major health risk, the president of the Australian Medical Association says, as the nation faces a new wave of Covid-19.
Prof Steve Robson on Tuesday said rules on masks in hospitals and other health settings have “become bit hard to interpret”, calling for state and territory health departments to step up.
“A lot of hospitals have relaxed or removed mask requirements, and that’s a concern,” he said.
“Because that puts visitors and also patients and staff at risk. You need staff to run a hospital. So if we have increased rates of staff being infected, either in the community or worse still, in the workplace, that degrades the hospital’s capacity to provide care quickly.”
Robson said he was concerned about waning immunity given “there’s been a huge stall in third and fourth vaccination rates around the country”.
“And we’ve got new variants arriving that seem to evade immunity. We’ve got a situation where the overall population is at risk of Covid infection, and we’ve also just got a huge backlog of work that hospitals were unable to do during the the mid-year and earlier waves, and a lot of staff who have not had any capacity to take leave for a while.
“We think all these things together pose a very major risk over the holiday season when people will be on holidays and there will also be huge amounts of travel.”
The federal health minister, Mark Butler, was due to give an update on the Covid situation on Tuesday afternoon. He told Guardian Australia that the government was well prepared to protect the most vulnerable, including those in aged care, amid the new wave of infections.
Health minister Mark Butler says the government is on the ‘front foot’ to protect older Australians. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Personal protection equipment had already been deployed to homes, and a surge workforce was prepared to step in, Butler said.
“The government has been on the front foot to help protect older Australians most at risk of Covid,” he said.
“This includes supporting the aged care sector by continuing to prioritise booster vaccinations [and] ensuring access to lifesaving oral anti-viral treatments. They’re safe, they’re effective and they’re available for everyone aged over 70 and other high-risk groups.”
He said the government continues to fund coronavirus support grants to help providers with the costs of outbreaks, and to provide financial support for casual workers to not attend work if they are Covid-positive.
But the aged care director for the United Workers Union, Carolyn Smith, said tackling year after year of Covid had taken a toll on aged care staff, who were still not being properly paid. Burnout and fatigue are ongoing concerns, she said.
“The toll taken by Covid on aged care residents earlier this year was devastating, and continues to be a deadly threat in many aged care providers,” she said.
“Aged care workers carry the emotional burden of a higher number of deaths of residents, while facing continuous understaffing and low pay that contribute to a workforce exodus.
“The whole aged care system has been on the verge of collapse this year, and a fresh round of Covid will continue to place enormous pressure on aged care workers.”
She welcomed the federal government’s commitment to mandated care-time reforms but said many aged care workers who worked through the pandemic, covering lifestyle, catering, cleaning and laundry, were yet to see any pay rise out of the work value case.
“So these workers get a renewed Covid surge, so far no pay rise, understaffing at ridiculous levels – it’s been a tough year for them,” she said.
In New South Wales the chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, has reiterated the importance of getting booster vaccine doses and urged those most at risk of severe disease to talk to their doctor about antivirals to reduce the severity of infection.
She also urged people to stay home if they have cold or flu-like symptoms and asked those who must leave the house while unwell to wear a mask when indoors or on public transport. They should avoid large gatherings and high-risk settings, such as hospitals and aged or disability care facilities, for at least seven days.
A Queensland Health spokesperson told Guardian Australia all hospital and health services were “carefully monitoring the current situation to ensure they have the flexibility and capacity to respond to changing demands and pressures”.
“This includes redeploying staff to areas where they are needed most and limiting movement around facilities, as well as maintaining strict infection control procedures such as using N95 masks in all high-risk areas,” the spokesperson said.
“Covid-19 is endemic in the community and will continue to mutate so it is important people remain vigilant and responsive by staying home when sick, washing their hands regularly, and keeping up-to-date with vaccinations.”
