Hi everyone,
Like many of you, I was pleased to hear this morning that there were far few newer cases than we saw yesterday. Lesley is back on deck but has asked me to continue in the role of CALHN COVID Commander.
The IMT has met again we will remain at CoSTAT 2B with a continued focus on decompressing our sites so that we have both capacity and increased resources to support both our preparedness and the public health system as a whole. I ask that you have an absolute focus on moving patients through the system and if there are any blocks to achieving this to escalate them through your usual pathways.
During our initial COVID-19 response, we worked well together, we innovated and thought differently to provide care for our patients in the right place to reduce their risk. I ask you again to adopt these ways of working.
COVID-19 Live Stream
I’d like to invite you to join me at 2pm tomorrow, Wednesday, 18 November 2020 for a ‘Central COVID-19 live stream’ where Lesley will provide an update about on the current COVID-19 situation and the next steps in our response. To RSVP to attend to the session, please click the button below.
If you have a question you would like to ask about our COVID-19 response, you can email them in advance to healthcalhncommunications@sa.gov.au.
Supporting good public health practices on our sites
Once again I would like to reiterate that it is important to minimise the amount of people on our sites to help keep our patients and staff safe. If you are able to work from home, we encourage you to do so, effectively immediately. If you are working onsite, it is vital to observe and model physical distancing where possible which includes limiting the number of people in meeting rooms and using Microsoft Teams wherever possible for meetings.
Front door screening is an important mechanism to make sure people at risk of COVID-19 do no enter our sites.
This applies to staff as well, and I ask you to be respectful of our front door screening staff who are taking on a thankless but very important line of defence.
PPE update
As of today, we have 50.2 days of N95 masks, 61.6 days of surgical L3 masks, 93.7 days of eye protection and 16.5 days of surgical gowns available on site. In addition, we will shortly receive an additional 60,000 gowns, ensuring we have a strong supply at hand.
What is reported on the PPE dashboard is in addition to the stock within the distribution centre. We also have a further 7-day supply of PPE in a secure location that can be accessed on request of the IMT should we see a sudden increase in demand.
You will shortly see that all visitors to our sites will be asked to wear masks and the one visitor per patient per day guidelines remain in place.
I want to assure you all that we continue to take this situation very seriously but I am confident in our ability to work together to decompress our site and ensure our COVID-19 response is prepared and ready should the situation evolve.
As was said yesterday, New South Wales has shown us that there is nothing to be frightened of as long as we are systematic and focused in our response. It’s important that we do the right thing and model the appropriate behaviours for the community to help stop the spread and keep our patients, visitors and staff safe.
Kathryn Zeitz
CALHN COVID-19 Commander