Parra News August 31 2021

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Tuesday, August 31, 2021
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Editor’s Note
troy.dodds@parranews.com.au
Troy Dodds
@troydodds
Drowning in mixed messaging
We’re constantly told to trust the health
advice, but I’d love to see the advice that
gives the green light to weddings with five
guests (vaccinated or not), yet won’t allow
fully vaccinated people from separate
households in Parramatta or Cumberland
to have a picnic in a park.
It’s not hard to see why people are confused
and bewildered by some of the
messaging at present.
The virus is so dangerous you can’t see
your grandkids.
But here’s the good news: if your grandkid
is getting married, no problem.
It’s a total mess.
Issue 41
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When Westmead Hospital declared a
yellow emergency last week, it provided
an uncomfortable glimpse of what our future
of living with COVID might look like.
Perfection in a global pandemic is impossible.
However, Westmead was forced
to put a 24-hour pause on accepting new
patients, source an extra 100 private beds
and redirect cases as far as Wollongong
for a simple reason: it was being overwhelmed.
“We acknowledge we are no
longer operating in a business-as-usual
environment,” acting general manager
Jenelle Matic wrote to staff.
There’s no doubt our local health system
is under pressure while western
Sydney bears the majority of the state’s
COVID caseload. Based on figures released
by Health Minister Brad Hazzard,
Westmead was managing 121 COVID
cases in its wards, including 23 in Intensive
Care units, as of mid-last week. Ambulances
brought in 280 COVID patients
over the preceding seven days. Staff have
been handling hundreds more cases in
the community.
Despite these heroic efforts, there has
obviously been a logjam transferring patients
between settings.
When paramedics have to ramp patients
in the hospital car park for six hours, it’s a
Index
Alan Mascarenhas
@alanmasc
Health system at breaking point
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Life & Style ...........................19-20
sure sign the system has hit crisis point.
It also raises the question: if this is what
hospitals like Westmead look like under a
lockdown scenario, what happens when
Sydney opens up?
Vaccination is our main tool to reduce
community transmission. It’s good that
50 per cent or more of adults have had
their first dose across most of Parramatta
LGA with Carlingford, Epping, Winston
Hills and Toongabbie doing particularly
well. Cumberland continues to run somewhat
behind. Yet case numbers continue
to rise and even Dr Kerry Chant warns
they will go “way above” 1000 a day.
The vaccination rate will max out at
some point. Only now is the rollout beginning
to extend to children. As other
nations are finding, we’ll also need a
booster strategy to combat vaccine waning
effectiveness over time.
This indicates our health system needs
to be prepared. Many have more detailed
working knowledge than me, but
the key challenges are apparent. What
are the projected case numbers that hospitals
like Westmead will face in future?
Do we have the necessary capacity – and
importantly staff? Already, it’s taking too
long to give many of our health and aged
care workers the jab. Some paramedics
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are working 21-hour shifts. When busy
health teams are forced to isolate for 14
days due to COVID exposure, it places
operations at risk.
Hospital infrastructure is another issue
along with workforce planning. Tragically,
we’ve seen so many fatalities at
hospitals like Liverpool, Nepean and St
George where the virus seeped into non-
COVID patients. So, what are the physical
changes needed to expand capacity and
make wards safe? Do we need to build
new COVID-only hospitals or temporarily
repurpose existing ones?
Finally, how will we continue to care for
other conditions that are a major cause
of morbidity, including heart attacks and
strokes? At Westmead, live donor transplants
have reportedly been cancelled
indefinitely as resources are diverted. But
what is termed elective surgery is essential
surgery if you’re the person requiring
it.
If you listen to the federal and state governments,
moving to ease restrictions,
the response is essentially “nothing to
see here”. We all want to open up safely,
but the Prime Minister and Premier can’t
dismiss reasonable questions. We need
to be vigilant now about what living with
COVID means for our health system.
Sport .................................................32
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