Ten workers at Nepean and Sydney Adventist Hospitals quarantined after doctor caught coronavirus

Ten healthcare workers across two hospitals will spend the next 14 days in self-isolation after another employee tested positive to coronavirus.

On Sunday morning, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District confirmed a female doctor from Nepean Hospital, at the base of the Blue Mountains in Sydney’s west, tested positive for the deadly respiratory infection.

She had undertaken non-clinical duties at both Nepean and Sydney Adventist Hospital in Wahroonga on Sydney’s north shore before developing symptoms.

The woman did not work while she was unwell and wore a mask at all times, but two staff at Nepean Hospital and eight at Sydney Adventist Hospital have been quarantined as a precaution.

Staff from St. Vincents Hospital test patients for coronavirus at Bondi drive-through clinic on Anzac Day, as a doctor from Sydney’s west tests positive for the virus

The employee was working at Nepean Hospital in the Blue Mountains region, west of Sydney, undertaking non-clinical duties before she was diagnosed

None of the staff members have reported any flu-like symptoms, according to 9News. 

Health Minister Brad Hazzard told reporters patients at both hospitals are not at risk, as the doctor was undertaking non-clinical duties in the days leading up to her diagnosis.  

A spokeswoman said the healthcare worker was always wearing a face mask and recognised the first sign of symptoms.

‘There is no ongoing risk to patients or staff and no impact on our services,’ the spokeswoman said.

‘Health screening is carried out on all staff at the start of each shift.’ 

Testing criteria is being expanded again to give Australia the best chance at fighting the disease. Pictured: Medical staff at the testing clinic in Bondi

There were initial fears the case could create another COVID-19 cluster, which have popped up at hospitals and aged care facilities around the country.

Victorian health officials on Friday issued an urgent warning after 14 cases stemmed from a Melbourne psychiatric hospital in late March.

Victorian Health Minister, Jenny Mikakos, told reporters on Friday: ‘The department is investigating an outbreak of coronavirus at a private inpatient psychiatric facility’.

She noted the appearance of new coronavirus cases ‘shows the fragility of the situation and reinforces that this is not all over yet.’

Ms Mikakos confirmed five patients, five staff members and four household close contacts had all tested positive.

Medical professionals are seen performing COVID-19 tests on members of the public at the Bondi Beach drive-through COVID-19 testing centre in Sydney

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 6,710

New South Wales: 3,002

Victoria: 1,349

Queensland: 1,030

Western Australia: 549

South Australia: 438

Tasmania: 208

Australian Capital Territory: 106

Northern Territory: 28

TOTAL CASES:  6,710

RECOVERED: 5,394

DEAD: 83

Three victims of the outbreak have been hospitalised and one person is in intensive care with Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Professor Brett Sutton, saying the cluster is ‘a warning sign’.

‘Today is a demonstration that you can get explosive outbreaks and sometimes these spill out into the community, so we have to be mindful that things could change in the wrong direction over the next month,’ he said.

Two Tasmanian hospitals had to be closed completely in early April after an outbreak of COVID-19, with five deaths and 78 cases linked to the facilities.

More than 5,000 people including 1,200 hospital staff and their households were ordered to quarantine in Burnie, in the state’s north west, for 14 days while the hospitals were disinfected. 

Residents at Anglicare’s Newmarch House in Caddens, western Sydney, were also exposed to the virus. So far, 10 staff and 20 residents have tested positive.

A nurse worked at the aged care facility in Caddens for six days while suffering a ‘scratchy throat’ before returning a positive diagnosis to COVID-19. 

On Saturday, an 83-year-old man died at the facility, taking the death toll in the home to six in just one week. 

The number of coronavirus cases, 6,710 nationally, is small by international standards and is rising at an extremely slow rate compared to a few weeks ago.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison believes Australia is on the ‘road back’ from tackling the coronavirus, even allowing some states to slowly begin easing restrictions. 

Six residents of Anglicare’s Newmarch House (pictured) in western Sydney have now died from coronavirus

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