NSW records 1164 Covid-19 cases

NSW has record 1,164 Covid-19 cases and three deaths overnight as Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed 68 per cent of the state has now received their first vaccine dose. 

The figures come after it emerged more than 100 people in Sydney caught Covid-19 while staying in public hospitals and 12 have died from the virus – exposing the city’s infection control procedures.

As well as patients, 19 hospital staff who visit multiple patients between wards have also caught the virus across six of Sydney’s largest health facilities. 

The most recent patient, a woman in her 60s, died at Westmead Hospital with the source of her infection at nearby Cumberland Hospital in Parramatta – where there is an outbreak of 11 cases. 

In the most recent case a woman in her 60s died at Westmead Hospital (pictured) after she caught the infection at Cumberland Hospital where there is an outbreak and was transferred 

Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes said frustrated health staff already exhausted from treating patients also now had to deal with added pressure and anxiety that they could spread the virus to someone in their care.

‘It can feel like they are being told they are spreading it, when what they are doing is trying to look after patients under some very tough conditions,’ he told the SMH. 

Royal Melbourne Hospital’s chief medical officer Dr Cate Kelly said NSW could learn from Victoria’s second wave in 2020 in which 271 healthcare workers caught the virus. 

She said a number of steps brought in at Royal Melbourne Hospital proved effective at reducing transmission. 

‘The first step is to try and avoid it getting in, in the first place: put in all of the screening that you possibly can and obviously have PPE,’ she wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday. 

If there is a case detected, Dr Kelly said immediately addressing the treatment environment was required – for example transferring the patient to a room with high ceilings or a negative pressure room for the most infectious, bringing in air cleaners, and limiting staff numbers. 

‘If no one in the cohort has become infected by day five, you can have some level of confidence that they’re not going to test positive and so then you have to risk grade that against the risk of not having specialist staff there,’ she said. 

‘Because if they go back in, and they’re wearing an N95 mask, and they’ve been double vaccinated, the risk of transmission is low, even in that worst-case situation.’ 

The Health Services Union said frustrated and exhausted staff also had to deal with the risk of transmitting the virus as well as care for patients (pictured: Sydney healthcare workers)

The Health Services Union said frustrated and exhausted staff also had to deal with the risk of transmitting the virus as well as care for patients (pictured: Sydney healthcare workers) 

There have been multiple outbreaks at public hospitals in Sydney – confined mostly to the city’s south and west in 2021. 

At Liverpool Hospital 19 patients caught Covid-19, along with eight staff and 11 people died from the virus. 

At Cumberland Hospital, 12 patients were infected and one died. 

In Penrith, 26 patients and one staff member caught Covid at Nepean Mental Health Centre, while at Nepean Hospital 12 patients caught Covid, along with eight staff and five people died. 

At Canterbury Hospital 22 patients were infected and five people died. 

And at St George Hospital two staff caught Covid along with seven patients and two people died. 

October is expected to be the worst month for hospitalisations in the hardest-hit state of NSW, where 1290 cases were recorded on Monday. 

Royal Melbourne Hospital's chief medical officer said NSW can learn from Victoria's 2020 outbreak (pictured: Sydney health workers)

Royal Melbourne Hospital’s chief medical officer said NSW can learn from Victoria’s 2020 outbreak (pictured: Sydney health workers) 

Doctors have called for mandatory coronavirus vaccines for all health workers including cleaners, receptionists and contractors.

Australian Medical Association President Omar Khorshid said there were worrying numbers of infected frontline workers and several clusters linked to hospitals.

‘This is about health care worker safety and the safety of patients, and not about vaccines by force,’ he said on Tuesday.

The AMA wants nationally consistent public health orders to mandate vaccinations for all health workers as soon as possible.

‘We’ve said plans to reopen Australia will be a disaster unless our health sector is ready and that will mean having a fully protected medical workforce,’ Dr Khorshid said.

Aged care workers will be required to have had at least one vaccine dose on September 17. 

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