Covid-19 Victoria: Hospital advised to reduce elective surgery to warn doctors of overcrowding Australia News

Victorian public hospitals are advised to maintain 75% levels of elective surgery as senior physicians We warn that there are not enough hospital beds to accommodate the surge in demand, and that health care workers are at increased risk of getting Covid-19 due to conditions.

Guardian Australia understands that work is underway in hospitals to provide the necessary equipment to treat additional patients with coronaviruses, and could add an additional 400 ICUs and emergency beds across the state. Is desired.

About 20 healthcare workers and patients have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in Victoria over the last few weeks, Doctors, nurses and paramedics. During the “first wave” of the virus that caused the national blockade in March, non-urgent selective surgery was put on hold to make room for suspected known Covid-19 patients.

However, in Australia, Covid-19 appeared to be under control by early June, so the hospital began to fill up with other patients again, leaving the ward and bed reserved for Covid-19 to the general public. Reassigned to.

A doctor currently working at a Victorian hospital told the Guardian of Australia, “We don’t have free beds or surge beds at this time.”

“In my shift yesterday, the doctor had to see people again in the waiting room because there was no cubicle in the emergency department and I had to wait 24 hours for the patient to go to the ward. It was the place. The doctor, who didn’t want to name it, said, “We had only 3 beds available for Covid or a suspected Covid patient. That’s scary. The Australian hospital system is always 100. It has a capacity of %. There are not many spare beds.”

She said the patient came to a fever clinic where she had a cough but recently had no place to put him. “I was able to track something quickly after all, but these people shouldn’t be in the waiting room. I would have thought I had to stop the elective surgery again. The department’s emergency department is crowded and dangerous for health care professionals. Having a PPE is not enough.”

Guardian Australia Contacted Victoria’s Minister of Health Jenny Mikacos for Latest Surge Capacity Data But I didn’t get an answer to that question. But a government spokesperson said while the hospital was beginning to see an increase in presentations, people could be confident that their health system was ready and could meet additional demand if needed. It was.

“We will continue to monitor the situation carefully to ensure that our hospital and staff are supported,” she said. “Because of the increased risk of coronavirus infection in certain areas, Melbourne, Staff in all metropolitan healthcare public areas are strongly encouraged to use the appropriate PPE to maximize protection. It is also recommended that patients wear face covers in this environment. “

Professor Rinaldo Bellomo is Director of Intensive Care Research in Austin health Since his hospital is outside the hotspot zone, the staff feels ready and well equipped. However, he said there was a big difference between the increase in the number of cases at the beginning of the pandemic and the increase in the current number of cases: a high proportion of cases from travelers who had previously returned. In other words, the infection level of the community was lower than it was before.

Just before the Australian blockade on March 22, there were 67 new Covid-19 cases in Victoria, for a total of 296 cases. Three cases were thought to have been acquired by a community infection. However, 191 Victoria On Tuesday, July 7th, the highest increase for the entire pandemic. These are all due to community infections.

“This is bad,” Bellomo said. “If anyone doesn’t admit it, this is serious. I just don’t know how to do it differently. Hopefully it locks down because we locked it down. But it’s down fast. But “This is much worse. It’s not just the situation back in March.”

Victorian police added on Saturday that they would be contagious if they could collectively surround the nine public housing towers in Flemington and North Melbourne without wearing a mask. However, local police have since wore personal protective clothing.

“I was watching the police around these areas where the virus was high, and thought about how they were at risk of getting infected,” he said. “When they went to those buildings, they were exposed to spectacular defenses. The risk of Joe Blog and Mary Jane walking down the street was far greater than before the previous March 22 blockade. I am.”

Bellomo said hospitals in the hotspot zone face the biggest challenges in the coming weeks, so some hospitals are expected to be more difficult than others.

Four patients and staff at Brunswick Private Hospital in northern Melbourne were one of the new Covid-19 cases announced Wednesday. There are nine cases related to Epping’s Northern Hospital, consisting of eight staff members and one household contact. Three paramedics were infected as part of the latest outbreak. Two medical staff at Alfred Hospital and one staff member at Royal Melbourne Hospital, where five patients had intensive care as of Wednesday, are also infected.

“A group of researchers affiliated with Royal Melbourne hospitals examined health workers who were infected as a result of the previous March outbreak, and found that almost all were infected in the community rather than in hospital work. I did,” he said. “It’s still difficult at this time to find out how all these recent healthcare workers got the virus and, in these cases, whether they got the virus in the hospital.”

The Victorian government did not provide data on recent outbreaks in healthcare workers originating from the workplace, although approximately 13% of 279 Victorian healthcare worker cases have occurred since the beginning of the pandemic. Got a virus at work.

Dr. John Bonning of the University of Emergency Medicine, Australasia, said that the first ongoing response to Covid-19 would be a response to the forefront concerns of health care professionals who would continue to be heard, recognized and acted as part of formal decision-making and response. He said he had shown what he had to do.

“As part of our efforts to stay calm and systematic in our ongoing challenges, we regularly communicate with governments and colleagues in other healthcare sectors,” he said.