Inside the secret warehouses where $1 billion worth of masks, gloves and gowns is stockpiled ready for the worst case scenario where hospitals are overrun by a second wave of coronavirus
- NSW Government has bought hundreds of millions of PPE items and sanitiser
- Include face masks, face shields, gloves, surgical gowns, and sanitising products
- Housed in five secret warehouses packed floor to ceiling with pallets of gear
- Hospitals are still being told to prepare for the worst during the coming winter
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
New South Wales has amassed a $1 billion stockpile of protective equipment in case hospitals are overrun by a second wave of coronavirus.
Five warehouses are stuffed with hundreds of millions of face masks, face shields, gloves, surgical gowns, and sanitising products in case of disaster.
The state has only recorded a handful of new cases each day in the past week, including zero on Thursday, but is preparing for the worst.
New South Wales has amassed a $1 billion stockpile of protective equipment in case hospitals are overrun by a second wave of coronavirus
Lockdowns are set to be relaxed from this weekend and health authorities have warned cases will likely increase as Australia opens up.
Video of one of the warehouses, which are in secret locations around NSW, showed endless pallets of PPE piled floor to ceiling.
Forklifts are seen adding even more to the shelves, some of which are empty and waiting for even more gear to arrive.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the stockpile was the keep the state prepared for any future outbreaks.
'While NSW has successfully flattened the curve for now, we know the battle against this global pandemic is still a reality and we're not taking any chances,' she said.
'That's why we've spent almost $1 billion on PPE to ensure our frontline workers have the key safety equipment they need to fight this virus, and keep NSW residents safe.'
A healthcare worker wearing full PPE takes swabs in Northland Shopping Centre at one of the new mobile testing sites
Five warehouses like this one are stuffed with hundreds of millions of face masks, face shields, gloves, surgical gowns, and sanitising products in case of disaster - with room for even more
NSW had just one new coronavirus case on Monday and revised its total down by three to 3,033. Australia has 6,822 cases with 95 deaths.
Much of the stockpile was imported from overseas in China and elsewhere, but also from Australian companies converting their businesses to make PPE.
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The state issued a 'call to arms' in March and more than 1,500 suppliers came forward through the government's emergency supplies portal.
Jobs Minister Stuart Ayres said NSW's stockpile was big enough to fulfill its 'medium term needs'.
'We've identified hundreds of new suppliers of these critical products through the portal and it has shone a light on the tremendous capacity of NSW companies,' he said.
Video of one of the warehouses, which are in secret locations around NSW, showed endless pallets of PPE piled floor to ceiling
A worker inspects a can of sanitiser spray used to disinfect surfaces and kill the coronavirus germs hiding there
Medical staff at ICUs across Sydney are still being told to brace for a spike in coronavirus cases in July, during peak flu season.
Language being used in some hospitals references positive coronavirus numbers as the equivalent to 'water going out before a tsunami' or the 'calm before the storm'.
It means guidelines released by the intensive care society earlier this year - outlining the need for nurses to choose which patients to save - remain in place, despite the COVID-19 curve dramatically flattening.
Anthony Holley, president of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, said the ease with which COVID-19 spreads meant there was no room for complacency - and 'wartime' measures must remain in place.
Forklifts are seen adding even more to the shelves, some of which are empty and waiting for even more gear to arrive
Much of the stockpile was imported from overseas in China and elsewhere, but also from Australian companies converting their businesses to make PPE
Anticipating that they will still be swamped by patients, plans have been put in place in most ICUs outlining how they will operate if stretched to the limit.
They include.
- Limiting sick patients to one phone call a day, so nurses can focus on care and not be turned into a makeshift call centre.
- Not allowing loved ones into the hospital for a goodbye for terminally ill patients.
- Nurses limiting their time in ICUs to two hour intervals, at which point that would take off their personal protective equipment (PPE), before putting new PPE back on after a break and returning to work.
