FAR West Local Health District (FWLHD) has boosted its contact tracing capacity, with six extra staff members now trained to conduct COVID-19 case interviews.
As part of FWLHD’s COVID-19 surge plan, the Ministry of Health has trained existing FWLHD staff to upskill and help respond to the COVID crisis in the region.
The new COVID case managers will be able to notify positive cases and help identify close contacts to increase the speed of contact tracing in the district, which includes Wentworth, Dareton, Buronga and Gol Gol, as well as Broken Hill, Menindee and Wilcannia.
According to Public Health Controller Professor David Lyle the extra help “ensures our communities are being cared for during their 14-day isolation period.”
“Previously we didn’t have enough capacity on a local level to manage all of the cases and close contacts across the far west region, so training more staff members will allow us to be more responsive to local needs,” he said.
New COVID Case Manager Kate Scanlon was excited to help out.
“Our goal is to call our positive cases every day to ensure they have everything they need,” she said.
“Most people I’ve contacted have been really positive, engaging and happy with the support we’re providing, which has been really great to see.”
