Some staff infected with coronavirus worked in Tasmanian hospitals for several days while experiencing symptoms, an investigation into a cluster in the state's north-west has found.
Key points:
- Health workers likely caught COVID-19 from patients in the North West Regional Hospital who had been on the Ruby Princess cruise ship, an investigation has found
- It's likely that by the time the first healthcare worker was diagnosed, person-to-person transmission was already "well established", the Public Health Director says
- The Premier says the report should not be used to blame any healthcare worker or Ruby Princess passenger
Tasmania's Director of Public Health Mark Veitch said the outbreak at the North West Regional and North West Private hospitals most likely began when a Ruby Princess passenger with a confirmed case of COVID-19 transmitted the infection to staff, who transmitted it to other staff and patients at the two hospitals.
Two coronavirus patients from the Ruby Princess were admitted to the North-West Regional Hospital in late March, and the first staff member was identified as having COVID-19 on April 3.
Dr Veitch said the investigation found some staff had been congregating in shared areas of the hospital, although it was not known at the time that the virus was circulating there.
He said "many infectious cases" had worked for several days while experiencing often mild respiratory symptoms that they did not attribute to coronavirus.
"I think it's likely that by the time the first cases of infection amongst healthcare workers were diagnosed, there was already a well established person-to-person transmission within the hospital setting that was difficult to control at that stage," he said.
Tasmania's Chief Medical Officer Professor Tony Lawler said the reasons those staff felt they should keep working needed to be looked at.
"People come to work when they feel they must because they don't want to let their patients down or let their colleagues down," he said.
"Nothing in this report should be seen as taking away from the amazing efforts of staff in the north-west."
Premier Peter Gutwein said no-one was to blame for the outbreak
"This is just simply a case of people going about their lives, going about their jobs, while this dreadful set of circumstances has ensued and has wreaked havoc and misery on so many people," he said.
"Nobody should use this report to ascribe blame to anyone.
"No passenger is to blame, and no healthcare worker is to blame."
As he released the findings of the report, he announced the state's 12th death, an 86-year-old woman in the north-west.
To date, 219 people in Tasmania have contracted COVID-19, including 146 in the state's north-west.
Eleven of the 12 deaths in the state have been in the north-west.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA0LTMwL2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLXJ1YnktcHJpbmNlc3MtdGFzbWFuaWEtbm9ydGgtd2VzdC1vdXRicmVhay8xMjE5ODk5MNIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjE5ODk5MA?oc=5
2020-04-30 00:53:08Z
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