MILDURA’S two new ICU beds for critically ill COVID-19 patients have been filled within a day of being made available, as the state death toll for the present virus surge continues to grow.
Victoria reported 25 COVID deaths on Thursday and Premier Dan Andrews said he expected active case numbers to top a quarter of a million in the near future.
Mildura officially reported 184 new cases on Thursday for an active total of 759, more than 700 of these under a hospital home-monitoring program.
Confirmed and probable cases in Victoria totalled about 37,000, while NSW recorded more than 92,000 cases, although this included the results of rapid antigen tests taken in the past 12 days, and 21 fatalities.
Mildura Base Public Hospital chief executive Terry Welch told Sunraysia Daily the hospital was continuing to adapt and prepare for worsening case numbers, the latest step being accreditation as a “streaming hospital”, which means many very ill patients can now be treated here, rather than being sent to Bendigo or Melbourne.
On Wednesday, the hospital opened a converted paediatric ward as a dedicated, eight-bed COVID ward and put its two COVID ICU beds into action.
Certain air-flow and air-quality requirements must be met to operate these areas, and the hospital is using $450,000 in State Government money, obtained through advocacy by Member for Mildura Ali Cupper, to upgrade air flow and circulation, clean it through filters and create negative-pressure environments that help contain potentially infected air within rooms.
Mr Welch said the full upgrade would take up to eight weeks, but would prepare the hospital for a changing COVID landscape.
“We recognise that we have to be able to manage longer term as this pandemic continues, and a key part of that is how can we adapt our facility,” he said.
“We know it’s outdated, we know it needs a lot of work and upgrading, but we can make some changes to keep us safe here.”
Mr Welch said the rapid upgrade “won’t be 100 per cent ideal, but it will be far safer”.
“It will give us the greater flexibility to manage what potentially is going to be a significant volume of patients. Of course we hope not, but we’re all about being prepared and ready.”
Hospital clinical operations executive director Elise Elder said that “this will mean that a lot of people will be able to have the full cohort of care here locally, with their families nearby”.
Ms Cupper, who championed the return of the previously privatised hospital to public management before the pandemic and is advocating its replacement, said she was grateful to the State Government for providing the funding.
She said that ultimately, however, “we need a modern, state-of-the-art hospital that is built and designed for every possibility”.
“Terry and his team have been busy making positive changes at the Base for some time, and this added responsibility is a reward for effort,” Ms Cupper said.
“It also shows the increasing level of trust being shown in the capability of the Base as a whole, as Mildura is the first sub-regional health facility to take on a streaming capacity.”
As the number of people isolating grows with the rise in total cases, meanwhile, the Victorian Government introduced further exemptions for essential workers in isolation as close contacts.
Under the new changes, to come into force on Wednesday, workers in emergency services, education, critical utilities, custodial facilities, and transport and freight enterprises will be able to return to work if other options have been exhausted.
Workers in isolation returning to work in these sectors will have to notify their employer of their status as a close contact, be fully vaccinated, and agree with their employer to return to work.
Upon their return, workers will also need a negative rapid antigen test for five days before beginning their work day.
If at any time a worker develops symptoms or tests positive, the exemption will no longer apply.
Under the same exemptions introduced for food and beverage workers, workers must wear a face mask, with P2/N95 respirators preferred by the State Government.
However, for hospital, disability, residential aged-care facility and ambulance workers, the use of an N95 mask at work is mandatory.
