Cautious approach applauded

Jan Child, CEO of Bass Coast Health said a cautious approach to dealing with the pandemic had helped Bass Coast avert the human tragedy seen in other parts of the world and the state.

“Announcements made by the Victorian Premier on Sunday enable Bass Coast Health to maintain our position of strength and preparedness to ensure we will not have to deal with a third wave of the insidious COVID-19,” Ms Child said.

Although some local residents and businesses have expressed frustration at the cautious approach, Ms Child said the announcements provided regional areas such as Bass Coast further breathing space.

“We are buoyed that gradual changes to restrictions will positively impact the wellbeing of our community. We also ask that we do not undo the gains that we have made. Maintaining those five actions and responsibilities of staying 1.5 metres apart, wearing a face covering, washing and sanitising your hands and responding to any potential symptoms of COVID-19 by getting tested and isolating will help us to stay on track.”

Controlling community transmission

She said getting on top of community transmission through Stage 3 restrictions meant BCH had been able to quickly and effectively respond to the one confirmed case in Kirrak House Aged Care, preventing an outbreak in the facility.

Ms Child said in the second lock down there had been no COVID-19 inpatients at BCH, with only a handful of positive presentations through the ED. There had also only been one positive test result through the testing services since August 31.

Nonetheless, she said the past month had been challenging.

“The challenge has been the significant effort from our staff across functions and skill sets in protecting our staff and clients while continuing to deliver care; this work has prevented BCH from being inundated.”

Hotspots

Although Bass Coast currently has no active cases recorded, neighbouring areas of Casey, Cardinia and Latrobe have significant numbers of infections.

Casey (which includes Cranbourne, Clyde and Tooradin) currently has 95 active cases, making it the seventh highest local government area for infections, behind Wyndham, Brimbank, Hume, Melton, Moreland and Darebin.

Cardinia (which includes Pakenham, Koo Wee Rup, Caldermeade and Lang Lang) currently has 27 active cases.

Latrobe has 12 active cases, making it one of the highest regional case centres, behind Geelong (19) and Colac Otway (24).

Other Gippsland shires all have between zero and two cases.

“High numbers of cases in neighbouring regions and the high instance of health care workers infected in other services in metropolitan Melbourne show how quickly COVID-19 spreads,” said Ms Child.

“This is one of the reasons that Bass Coast Health has gone over and above when protecting our staff and clients and why we will continue to advocate for caution in our community so that we do not have to face the same impacts.”