Middlemore Hospital’s chief medical officer says it is ready for what will “undoubtedly” be a big outbreak of Omicron.
Dr Pete Watson told Breakfast the South Auckland hospital had benefited from the last two years of the pandemic, explaining it had allowed staff to prepare for a much larger outbreak of Covid-19 than New Zealand has ever seen before.
The hospital’s facilities had been upgraded, negative pressure rooms created, and ventilation improved.
“Everything that will reduce the likelihood of cross contamination from infection, keeping people safe — both the patients and the staff,” Watson said.
He said it had been “critical” for the hospital to be able to handle “business as usual” — from people having a heart attack to giving birth — and Covid-19.
Dr Inia Tomas in the hospital's ED says Omicron is "not nothing" and can be "quite a serious illness". (Source: Breakfast)
There are 600,000 people in the Counties Manukau DHB area.
Since the pandemic began the DHB has seen more than 5900 Covid-19 cases, which includes those in quarantine.
Despite treating a number of Covid-19 patients during the pandemic, no person-to-person transmission has occurred in the hospital.
Watson said lockdowns had dropped the number of presentations to the hospital by about two-thirds but added under the Red level of the traffic light system there was “no more spare capacity”.
He had the following message for those needing care during the outbreak: “We do not want people sitting at home. We’re capable, we’re prepared, and we’ll keep you safe. If you need to be in hospital, make sure you come.”
Dr Vanessa Thornton, the hospital’s clinical director, showed Breakfast’s John Campbell around its triage area.
READ MORE: Middlemore Hospital staff confident it will cope with Omicron
“This is how we’re just trying to keep patients safe as they enter the emergency department,” she explained.
The triage area outside the hospital is where patients are screened.
With Omicron Thornton said: “Fundamentally, if it’s low-grade sore throat, mildly unwell, feeling a little bit uncomfortable, you should probably just stay home, take Panadol, drink lots of water, you could call through to places like Healthline or your GP.
“If you’re feeling more short of breath or you’re developing symptoms where you’re very feverish and unwell, those are the reasons that we’d see you in the emergency department.”
Dr Inia Tomas, who works in Middlemore’s emergency department, told Breakfast the hospital was “well placed to get it right” with Omicron as it was the busiest ED in Australasia.
He said people needed to take Omicron seriously.
“It’s not nothing, guys. It can be quite a serious illness, particularly in our vulnerable patients. We know we have a lot of those in our catchment and around the country, really.
“If you become really sick you’ll know — you’ll be getting chest pain and shortness of breath that will just be getting worse and worse. If that happens you need to come to hospital. We want to see you.”
Modelling has suggested the country’s Omicron outbreak will be large, with daily hospital admissions reaching up to 800 people in the coming months, putting a "significant strain" on the country’s health system.
The modelling, released by Te Pūnaha Matatini's Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa, was carried out before the detection of Omicron in the community on January 23, 2022.
Even with high booster uptake and the public health measures in place such as mask-wearing, modelling shows an outbreak which started around February 1, 2022, would see peak hospital admissions ranging from 200 to 800 per day.
It also showed peak demand for hospital beds ranging from 800 to 3300, “depending on assumed transmission rates”.
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