Fears a Covid-positive mum desperate to see her infected son in intensive care exposed DOZENS of patients in a Sydney emergency room to the virus

By Levi Parsons For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 08:25 BST, 8 August 2021 | Updated: 08:44 BST, 8 August 2021

There are fears a Covid-positive mother who was desperate to see her critically-ill son may have infected dozens of patients in the emergency room of a Sydney hospital.  

The worrying breach reportedly occurred on Saturday night at the Northern Beaches Hospital when the women tried to visit her son, aged in his 30s, who was also suffering from coronavirus. 

He had been rushed from his home in Belrose to the emergency department after his condition rapidly deteriorated, 9News reported.  

‘He was immediately treated in the emergency department (ED) in a negative pressure room by staff in full personal protective equipment,’ The Northern Beaches Hospital said.

‘The man was intubated in the ED and transferred to a negative pressure room in the intensive care unit.’ 

Later that night his mother arrived at the hospital where she ‘waited for five minutes’ among patients and healthcare staff.

She ‘did not declare’ that she was infected with Covid and supposed to be in isolation.     

‘(There are) Mandatory Service NSW QR code check-ins for all people entering all entrances to the hospital,’ the hospital said.

‘Screeners also ask a list of questions to determine COVID-19 risks. Visitors are restricted unless in exceptional circumstances.

‘Once staff became aware of the risk, they were immediately taken to an isolation area.’ 

Anyone who was in the emergency room waiting area during that time are now considered close contacts and must immediately get tested and self isolate for 14 days regardless of the result. 

Contact tracers for the Northern Sydney Local Health District’s Public Health Unit are now scrambling to contact those who were in attendance. 

:

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk