Opinion
Heads should roll?
Kathrine Morgan-Wicks COVID-19 State Health Commander Secretary, Department of Health
Interim Report
…However alongside epidemiological findings, we must also take into account the experience of the hospital system itself, its learnings and specialist advice, and the reality that our Tasmanian Health Service (THS) is learning, in real time, alongside their healthcare colleagues around the world, how to best manage, treat and address Covid-19.
This is a load of confected rubbish.
By definition, a hospital must be free of any form of infection, otherwise no-one in their right mind would allow themselves to be admitted.
Health Commander: learning on the job by allowing infection to kill people in an advanced society is not the job description Tasmanians expect. We are not a third world country.
Coronavirus has been dealt with correctly without the escape of infection in our leading hospitals in Launceston and Hobart.
This is not so in the North West where one patient admitted on the 19th of March 2020 has seen the escape of the virus into three hospitals, forcing two of these hospitals to close, killing at least 8 possibly 10 patients and infecting many others.
No mention by the State Health Commander of the flu virus epidemic of September 2017 in Latrobe that killed six people. This event which was also shocking. It should have taught our medical bureaucrats a severe lesson in how to combat a viral infection.
It has not.
From this significant viral outbreak of the flu we seem to have learnt absolutely nothing. It is rapidly becoming apparent that the Liberal Governments only solution was to change one incompetent Minister for another.
The Liberals have cut, and cut, and cut, and cut the health budget in Tasmania and it has come back to bite them. The arrival of a female passenger with the coronavirus from the Ruby Princess at the under resourced North West Regional Hospital on March 20th, was a disaster which could have been foretold.
Through neglect and under resourcing by culpable politicians this unfortunate patient unknowingly managed to infect by extension, not one hospital, not two hospitals but three hospitals in the North West. The rapid spread of the infection placed the North West of the island in total lockdown and the day was saved only by Federal medical intervention flown in from the mainland.
I list here reports that draw attention to the whitewashing by political spin doctors of a problem regarding hospital hygiene, that has resulted in many deaths.
The Governments whitewashed Report of the 29th April states that Ruby Princess passengers were the most likely source of the infection. This is pure and absolute obfuscation made to dodge the bullet of responsibility. The two words most likely are the creation of a political spin doctors.
The Report does not state how the two passengers made it into Tasmania. Only in a graph does it note that on the 20th March a patient, sex not given, entered a hospital in the North. It makes no mention of the admission to the Royal Hobart Hospital of a male patient on the same day from the same ship and from which no breakout infection took place.
The other passenger from the Ruby Princess entered a hospital in the North on March 26th.
It suits the spin doctors to say two passengers entered the Burnie hospital at the end of March and not one on the 20th the day after the Ruby Princess docked and the other on the 26th.
The male passenger also admitted into the Royal Hobart Hospital on the 19th where proper procedures must have been in place, did not infect any other group much less three hospitals in which possibly as many as 10 people have died and more than a hundred have been infected.
In Hobart Minister Courtney here you have the proof that the coronavirus can be treated in Tasmania without infecting all and sundry.
The Premier in Parliament wants no one to be accountable, no questions to be asked, and no blame to be laid at his, her or any other door.
This Mr Gutwein is not leadership.
The hard questions must be addressed, and they must be answered.
Further Premier Gutwein and Health Minister Courtney your government must be held to account for the admissions made by your State Health Commander (Page 6 of 28 COVID-19 North West Regional Hospital Outbreak – Interim Report):
A recommendation from the CMO to close both hospital sites together with a decant and quarantine execution plan was approved by myself as the State Health Commander, following consultation with key clinical leaders and stakeholders (including the THS EOC, Acting Chief Executive Ambulance Tasmania, Director of Public Health, Deputy Director of Public Health, State Controller and Deputy State Controller) and the Premier and Minister for Health were given a briefing.
By Sunday 12 April cases had been notified among staff and patients in most clinical areas of the NWRH and NWPH precincts. These included clinical areas within the NWRH (medical, surgical and mental health wards, operating theatres), the NWPH, and in staff of the pathology service and outpatient clinics. The decision to close the two hospitals and related medical services and place all staff who had worked in these areas since 27 March (approximately 1300 staff members), and their household members (estimated to be a further 3000 – 4000 people), into quarantine for 14 days, was publicly announced in the afternoon of 12 April 2020 (Easter Sunday), with execution of the decant and quarantine orders to commence 7am on Monday 13 April 2020.
By 21 April, a total of 114 people had acquired COVID-19 associated with the North West outbreak comprising 73 staff members, 22 patients, and 19 others including household contacts.
As a result of appalling lapses in hospital immunity in Tasmania only NSW and Victoria have recorded more COVID-19 deaths than Tasmania.
How can this be so?
The Ruby Princess left Sydney for a cruise around New Zealand. The cruise was cut short on 15th March and the Ruby Princess returned direct to Sydney from Napier.
Ruby Princess’ visit to Napier on 15 March 2020 led to a cluster of 16 COVID-19 cases in that city.
By the time the ship had reached Sydney this may have been known to the ship’s captain, the Black Box containing all the ships communications has been seized by the Authorities in Sydney.
The ship disembarked 2,700 passengers in Sydney on 19 March 2020. The state health minister, Brad Hazzard announced on 20 March 2020 that 13 of the people on the ship had been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, and 3 of them were positive. New South Wales health authorities asked all passengers to go into self-isolation.
As of 30 March, at least 440 passengers had tested positive for the virus. 211 were in New South Wales, 71 in South Australia, 70 in Queensland, 43 in Western Australia, 22 in the Australian Capital Territory, 18 in Victoria, three in Tasmania and two in the Northern Territory.
By 31 March, five of them had died, one in the Australian Capital Territory, two in Tasmania, one in New South Wales and one in Queensland with no deaths in the ACT.
As a result, three seriously ill Tasmanian passengers from the Ruby Princess made their way to Tasmania two on March 20th and one on March 26th. Both those who arrived on the 20th died on the 31st. How did our Tasmanian politicians and Public Health Authority who had declared a Public Health Emergency three days earlier allow this to happen?
Why was the female patient allowed into the North West Regional Hospital without the staff being fully protected?
20th March 2020
The Examiner Newspaper ran this article by Isobel Cootes:
A Tasmanian woman, who was aboard the Ruby Princess cruise ship, has been diagnosed with coronavirus in Sydney and a second passenger has been admitted to hospital in Tasmania with respiratory symptoms.
The woman was one of four confirmed cases among passengers and crew who disembarked the cruise ship on Thursday in Sydney.
Tasmania’s Director of Public Health Mark Veitch said the woman remains in Sydney and was being managed by New South Wales Health.
However, another passenger who was on board the ship has been admitted to hospital in Tasmania with respiratory symptoms and will be tested for coronavirus infection.
It’s unknown if the passenger is being tested in the north or south of the state.
Dr Veitch said they had been advised there were 54 Tasmanians on board the vessel and NSW Health was contacting all passengers.
Premier Gutwein and his Minister were therefore fully aware that a passenger from the Ruby Princess with the coronavirus had been admitted to a Sydney hospital the day after the passengers had been disembarked from the ship on the 19th March.
I ask was this the female admitted to the North West Regional Hospital after being hospitalized on leaving the Ruby Princess in Sydney if so, how did she get to Tasmania?
If not, the same female why was this patient not treated in our leading hospital in Hobart?
This matter is not addressed in the Report.
The other passenger a male was transferred to the Royal Hobart hospital on the 20th and the admittance was correctly handled without the spread of the infection until his death on the 31st of March.
Here we have a direct comparison between to hospitals both patients were admitted on the same day both died on the same day and only in the North was the infection allowed to escape.
27th March 2020
Press Release
Dr Scott McKeown, Acting Director of Public Health, Public Health Services
Tasmania has today confirmed 11 cases of coronavirus.
One of the cases is a healthcare worker employed at the Mersey Community Hospital.
Public Health Services has initiated an investigation into this case in conjunction with the Tasmanian Health Service to ascertain the person’s movements at work and in the community to identify any close contacts. The person is fully cooperating with PHS staff.
Should any close contacts be determined through this investigation these people will be contacted by PHS.
This is the first record of a health worker infected with the coronavirus this fact is not recorded by Morgan -Wicks in her Report, is this another key to the cover up of the problem over the spread of the virus.
28th Mar 2020
Press release
Dr Scott McKeown, Acting Director of Public Health, Public Health Services
The investigation into the coronavirus case of a healthcare worker employed at the Mersey Community Hospital has determined that the person in question spent no more than 30 minutes at work while they were infectious before a decision was made that they go home due to feeling unwell.
The investigation into how the healthcare worker contracted the infection is ongoing.
A small number of people on the same shift have been identified as close contacts and are in quarantine and monitored by Public Health Services.
The healthcare worker did not have close contact with any patients while they were infectious.
An Incident Management Team has been established at the Mersey Community Hospital, which includes Ambulance Tasmania.
This is either whitewashing or sheer incompetence
30th March 2020
Mercury David Killick
Premier Peter Gutwein revealed the death of an elderly woman at the state’s North West Regional Hospital yesterday morning.
“I have been saying for weeks, this is serious, that people will die, and unfortunately Tasmania now has its first death. All Tasmanians need to accept and understand that this is not a game.
“This is serious, people’s lives are at risk. Director of Public Health Dr Mark Veitch said the woman, who was in her 80s, had been unwell “for several days”.
“She was in the good care of the hospital in the North-West,” he said.
“I understand there’s several people who are moderately unwell in hospital, but my understanding is we don’t have any people currently in intensive care.”
Meanwhile, Public Health Services continue to investigate two cases in the Devonport area to determine their source of infection.
It is thought these may be the first cases of community transmission in the state.
Under the Emergency Management Act, there is a penalty of up to $16,800 and up to three months’ jail for failing to comply.
31st March 2020
Ethan James Canberra Times and Examiner
Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein has announced a second death from coronavirus, a man in his 80s.
Tasmania has recorded its second coronavirus death, with both cases linked to the Ruby Princess cruise ship.
A man in his 80s died at the Royal Hobart Hospital overnight, taking the national COVID-19 toll to 19, Premier Peter Gutwein said on Tuesday.
It comes after a woman, also in her 80s, died in the state’s northwest on Monday.
The elderly man had been a passenger on the ship, Public Health Director Mark Veitch confirmed, but the woman’s connection is unclear.
The Ruby Princess has been a major source of virus spread in Australia since infected passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney without adequate checks two weeks ago and then return home interstate.
Why was their no breakout infection in Hobart?
This event was common to both hospitals one in the north and one in the south. Both received a single Ruby Princess passenger on the same day and they subsequently died on the same day.
Please explain in simple terms Premier Gutwein and Minister Courtney how this can be so?
31st March 2020
Press release
Eric Daniels, Chief Executive, Hospitals, North/North West
Due to the Tasmanian Health Service’s response to coronavirus the Mersey Community Hospital’s emergency department will have reduced opening hours.
In order to properly manage possible coronavirus presentations, the THS has established separate areas within emergency departments to ensure infection control measures are maintained. The configuration of the MCH emergency department does not allow for this model.
This means that from tomorrow night, the MCH emergency department will close at 10pm and reopen at 8am the next morning.
Yet those in authority moved the coronavirus unit to this hospital when they closed the two Burnie hospitals.
This is the cut off point for my investigations. We have two deaths one of which was contained within Hobart Hospital with no spread of infection the other leads directly to the closing of two hospitals and the infection of a third, the bringing in of troops from the mainland to manage the infection and the deaths of up to ten Tasmanians.
The Premier must be made to answer questions put by the Opposition in our Parliament regarding a comparison between the outbreak in the North and containment in the South. He must not be allowed to squib the matter as he did this week in our State Parliament.
The evidence is there for anybody to see with a death rate of 2.4 for every 100,000 our nearest rival for this desperate statistic is the ACT with a death rate of 0.7 per 100,000.
That so far is the extent of the disaster as revealed by the incompetence of the Liberals in funding and supervising our health service.
Heads should roll?