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The Victorian government has refused to answer questions about hospital surge capacity or the number of healthcare workers and medical institutions coping with outbreaks of Covid-19, despite a concerning number of infections in critical health staff.
On Thursday, the state’s health minister, Jenny Mikakos, told reporters:
We have created more ICU capacity, more beds in our hospital system, and we have undertaken extensive training of our staff.
She said all metropolitan public hospitals would operate at 50% of elective surgery capacity, while private hospitals would remain at 75% capacity, to free up beds.
Guardian Australia revealed on Wednesday that six staff affiliated with Melbourne’s Royal Women’s hospital are among those confirmed to have Covid-19 as part of Victoria’s recent outbreak. The Age reported five healthcare workers from the Royal Children’s hospital, which treats some of Australia’s sickest children, now have the virus, and that seven other staff members who work in clinical and non-clinical roles are self-isolating.
Other outbreaks announced in recent weeks have occurred among paramedics, staff from the Alfred hospital in Melbourne, staff linked to the Northern hospital in Epping, staff and patients at Brunswick Private hospital, and at the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s hospital. However, the state government has not provided updated figures associated with those clusters in almost one week.
Asked by Guardian Australia directly about the number of healthcare workers now infected and how many health institutions were involved, a spokeswoman for Mikakos did not respond. No direct response was given to a question about the current surge capacity in Victoria, that is, the ability of hospitals to rapidly mobilise staff to meet a sudden increased demand.
More details here:
Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, said further details about healthcare worker infections would be announced on Thursday afternoon. There are now 109 people in Victorian hospitals with the virus, 29 of which are in intensive care.
Updated
at 10.59pm EDT
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