Six staff at Royal Women’s hospital latest Victorian healthcare workers diagnosed with Covid-19

Six staff affiliated with Melbourne’s Royal Women’s hospital are among those confirmed to have Covid-19 as part of Victoria’s recent outbreak, with a concerning number of healthcare workers throughout the state now infected with the virus.

The hospital, located in Parkville next to Melbourne city, on Tuesday afternoon sent a notice to staff confirming six active cases and two recovered cases in health staff, including visiting medical officers and other staff who work elsewhere across multiple health services.

No patients at the hospital have the virus.

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“If you are a close contact of a confirmed case, you will be notified by our own infection prevention and control team and you will need to self-isolate,” the email to staff said.

“The Women’s has changed its visitor policy for birthing women. We have returned to a restriction of a maximum of one support person in the birth suite and on the postnatal ward – with no time limitations.

“The Women’s clinical leaders continue to make progress on the requirement to implement Covid-19 testing for patients before their elective surgery. However, there are a number of issues to work through and we will keep you updated as these are addressed.”

Guardian Australia has contacted the hospital for comment.

The Victorian health minister, Jenny Mikakos, did not respond to questions about how many health workers and health settings had been affected by the second wave. Asked if she was concerned by the cases in health settings, she told Guardian Australia: “It’s up to every one of us to ensure we each do our part to slow the spread and keep each other safe. We are thankful to our dedicated healthcare workers providing incredible care to patients in these challenging times and we will always do whatever we can to protect them and their patients.”

The state’s chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, on Tuesday confirmed 14 cases of the virus were now linked with Brunswick Private hospital in Melbourne’s north.

Paramedics, staff from the Alfred hospital in Melbourne, people linked to the Northern hospital in Epping, and a healthcare worker at the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s hospital are among other cases confirmed in health settings in the past week. The department of health would only say most of the cases had been acquired outside of hospitals but did not give numbers.

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An article published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Wednesday and led by the Kirby Institute professor of global biosecurity, Raina MacIntyre, said a national database reporting health worker infections in real time was required.

“There have been over 500 health worker infections in Australia by July 2020, but no national reporting on health worker infections, and lack of transparency in attribution of source of infection when health workers become infected,” MacIntyre said.

“We also require transparent national reporting of health worker infections. This is particularly urgent as numerous health worker infections have been reported in hospitals in Victoria during Australia’s resurgence of Covid-19.”

Prof Diana Egerton-Warburton, an emergency medicine physician with Monash Health in Melbourne, agreed a national register was needed.

She said it was unclear how many cases in healthcare workers had been acquired in the community versus the workplace.

Egerton-Warburton was concerned the pressures of working in emergency departments meant some health workers found maintaining personal protective equipment [PPE] and hygiene protocols for their entire shift difficult.

“There will be months, years, we will be living with the virus and we need to ensure clinicians are using PPE in a safe manner,” she said.

Egerton-Warburton has worked in health throughout four pandemics including HIV and is passionate about PPE use, but said younger members of the workforce may not be used to worrying about such stringent pandemic measures.

“Every day when I look on the news I see frustrating, incorrect use of PPE,” she said.

“Just yesterday I saw someone in full PPE taking a swab and then they put their hand up inside their visor and adjusted their mask. I see other examples of people holding samples, where they have gone outside the patient’s environment and are still holding the sample.”

The physician said the most common mistake was workers potentially contaminating themselves when gowns weren’t taken off correctly.

Egerton-Warburton suggested placing aeroplane-style visual safety cards in all health settings, including aged care, and ensuring staff continued to be educated and reminded about hygiene and safety.

“On my pre-shift briefing I also repeatedly remind staff about physical distancing and safety. We need a no-fault reminder system where we constantly remind each other about the proper use of masks and PPE. What we need is nudges in the health system to encourage people to do the right thing.”

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Egerton-Warburton added there were moments where she, too, needed to remind herself to be vigilant.

Recently after working to resuscitate a young patient who died, she recalled walking out of the room in full PPE, distressed by the death and exhausted. She had to stop and remind herself about the protocols for removing her gear.

“I’ve done all the training and I’m an assessor for PPE and have helped develop the resources and yet I came out of that situation and thought ‘I don’t know where to start’.

“That’s where you need to be able to look up and see an infographic to assist you.”