Chief Executive COVID-19 Update: 19 October

As of today, we have:

• 139 COVID-19 positive inpatients
• 23 employees with COVID-19
• 150 employees in precautionary quarantine

Employee vaccination

Vaccination is our pathway back to the life we all know and cherish, but it is also one of the key tools we have at our disposal to keep ourselves healthy and able to care for others. Thank you for taking action to protect yourself, your loved ones, our patients and those you work alongside.

The importance of responsible attestation
Last week you will have received an alert calling on all of us to take a more thoughtful approach to completing attestations. As you come into work in the coming days, you will notice some changes we’ve implemented to ensure this is the case. 

The questions have changed and will take a little longer to complete, but carefully answering them is a safeguard to ensure we do not inadvertently bring COVID-19 into our healthcare environment. More information about the improvements we are making for your health and safety can be found here.

All employees, contractors (contracted by Monash Health), agency staff, students, researchers, volunteers, and delivery drivers who enter our facilities are now required to complete a daily attestation to indicate that they meet the requirements of the CHO direction on mandatory vaccination.

Hand hygiene – before and after, every time
Hand hygiene is almost second nature to healthcare workers. We do it without thinking twice. But sometimes, when we find ourselves busy or distracted, we might forget to stop and sanitise.

Hand hygiene is one of our strongest protections in reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infections. Performing hand hygiene at critical moments is an important step in keeping ourselves, our patients and our colleagues safe.

Check out the new hand hygiene posters and download them for your area.

SARS-CoV-2 testing in people who have recovered from COVID-19 infection
PCR tests (swabs) can detect SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19) for weeks or months after infection has resolved. This does not mean that the person is still infectious to others, as the test is very sensitive and, in some cases, can detect remnant or non-infectious virus.

In light of this, additional SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests should not be performed for three months after the person’s COVID-19 infection in the majority of cases, including patients who present to hospital, those admitted to hospital, during pre-operative testing, visitors to health care settings or as part of asymptomatic staff surveillance testing.

Repeat testing may be indicated in certain populations, such as immunosuppressed patients or those with new clinical symptoms consistent with COVID-19 after a new exposure – please discuss with the Infectious Disease team before testing.

COVID-19 cleaning
Following Infection Prevention advice, our standard cleaning processes, which we know are effective against infectious diseases, will apply in all areas where COVID-19 positive patients spend time. This includes cleaning high-touch areas between patients in ambulant areas and frequent, scheduled cleaning in communal areas.

Deep cleaning processes and leaving rooms free for 30 minutes where needed, such as in cases where aerosol-generating procedures or behaviours have occurred, will still occur.

“I feel fully safe” – insights from the Forest COVID-19 ward with Nurse Manager Janine Maloney
We recently heard from Nurse Manager, Janine Maloney, who leads the team caring for COVID-19 patients in the Forest COVID-19 ward. Hear what she had to say.

Renewed focus on wellbeing
As we enter another challenging phase of our COVID-19 journey, we recognise you may need additional resources and support to help you during this time. To do this, we are extending the physical and psychological supports that are already available to you through an upcoming program that focuses on four main themes – wellbeing support, healthy work habits, recognising your efforts and pause, breathe and release.

These themes provide the framework under which a range of additional support and initiatives, including onsite EAP support, free online gym classes and relaxation and meditation sessions, will be available to help us develop the mental strength and resilience we all need to get us through the next few months.

Thank you.

Andrew Stripp
Chief Executive