Hospitals De-Escalated to Level 2

Media release – Professor Tony Lawler, Chief Medical Officer and THSEOC Commander, 2 February 2022

Reduction of COVID escalation level in Tasmanian public hospitals

Tasmania’s four major public hospitals have de-escalated from COVID Escalation Level 3 to Level 2.

The de-escalation took effect from 8:00am on Wednesday, 2 February 2022, and applies to the North West Regional Hospital, Mersey Community Hospital, Launceston General Hospital and Royal Hobart Hospital (including the Repatriation site).

This will mean all Tasmanian Health Service facilities and services across the state will now be operating at COVID Escalation Level 2.

The decision to de-escalate is due to the reduced impact of the decreasing numbers of staff identified as COVID positive or close contacts, as well as reduced numbers of inpatients with COVID.

The following changes will be introduced as part of the de-escalation to Level 2:

• Evaluation of affected units, including outpatient activity, to enable a safe and staged return to business as usual.
• Evaluation of surgical services to enable a staged return to normal services.
• Some visitor restrictions introduced as part of the Level 3 Escalation at the Royal Hobart Hospital will be relaxed.

No changes will be made to screening requirements at the hospitals at this time.

Regional Health Emergency Management Teams will continue to monitor the situation and provide advice on the appropriate Escalation Levels at our hospitals.

De-escalation is a positive development as it indicates pressure on hospitals has eased slightly. However, the THS Emergency Operations Centre is constantly reviewing the number of COVID cases admitted to hospital and in intensive care units, the level of community transmission, and the impact on staffing, and will recommend re-escalation should it be required to ensure delivery of core critical services.