New coronavirus cases detected in Melbourne hospitals as major outbreak at Frankston infects dozens
Two more coronavirus outbreaks have been detected in hospitals in Melbourne's south and east as a major cluster at Frankston Hospital has infected at least 50 people, including doctors, nurses and patients.
Three healthcare workers at nearby Holmesglen Private Hospital and four staff at Knox Private Hospital have tested positive to COVID-19.
A spokesman for Healthscope, which runs both hospitals, said all staff infected with the virus had been working in coronavirus wards.
"We do not believe these cases are linked to the outbreak at Frankston Hospital," he said.
At least 50 healthcare workers have been infected with coronavirus as a major outbreak sweeps through Frankston Hospital.Credit:Paul Jeffers
Aged care residents from across Melbourne were recently transported to Knox Private Hospital after the virus began spreading through their nursing homes.
Australian Medical Association Victorian president Julian Rait suspects the number of coronavirus cases linked to the Frankston Hospital cluster would swell beyond 50.
He said there were also concerns medical staff who might have been infected at the hospital were working at other health services in the city's south-east, including the Golf Links Road Rehabilitation Centre and Monash health services.
The spate of outbreaks in hospitals comes as Victoria recorded another 216 new cases of coronavirus and 12 more deaths in the past day, bringing the state's total death toll to 363.
The deaths have all been linked to aged care and include three men in their 70s, four women and a man in their 80s and three women and a man in their 90s.
While active coronavirus cases are declining or stabilising in Melbourne’s north and west hotspot areas, infections in the city's south-east municipalities are rising.
There are 95 active cases in Frankston, an increase of 26 in the past week, while 70 have been reported in the Mornington Peninsula Shire, a rise of 39 infections in the past week.
The Age has been told almost 90 Peninsula Health staff remain in isolation, either as a precaution or as they await test results.
It remains unclear how many patients have been infected, with the health department and Peninsula Health declining to comment.
The cluster has shut down multiple wards at Frankston Hospital, with parts of the facility not accepting new patients in order to stop the outbreak from spreading further.
The cause of the outbreak is being investigated, but health sources said a patient may have unknowingly brought the virus into a general ward, where it spread among patients and staff.
Peninsula Health has declined to confirm the cause of the cluster or give further details on the outbreak, citing patient confidentiality and staff privacy.
Professor Rait said the high number of infected staff pointed to a troubling systemic failure. He said he had been told at least 30 nurses were infected along with young doctors in training and a small number of senior doctors.
"There must have been some sort of systematic breakdown in the use of personal protective equipment or protocols or something going on for this to suddenly have emerged," he said.
Professor Rait is calling for an immediate and extensive investigation into how the virus spread.
"How this has happened needs to be thoroughly investigated," he said.
Professor Rait said he had written to Health Minister Jenny Mikakos calling for a breakdown of healthcare infections and details about the protective equipment used at Peninsula Health.
Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, confirmed on Wednesday he knew at least 50 patients and staff had been infected at Frankston Hospital. He stressed there had been an "immediate response" by the hospital to protect staff and patients.
"I think that number will grow," Professor Sutton said.
Peninsula Health chief executive Felicity Topp said in a statement on Tuesday that Frankston Hospital had admitted an increasing number of coronavirus patients in recent weeks.
"We are currently working through a plan to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our staff and patients, including closing a number of wards to admissions and undertaking thorough contact tracing with patients, family members and staff to alert anyone who has potentially been exposed to the virus," Ms Topp said.
Ramsay Health Care, which runs the nearby Peninsula Private Hospital, said no positive COVID-19 cases linked to Frankston Hospital had been detected among staff.
A Peninsula Private Hospital spokesman said the health service had developed a management plan to protect healthcare workers moving between hospitals.
The outbreak at Frankston Hospital has triggered alarm in other Victorian health services, with medical staff often travelling from Melbourne to the seaside suburb to treat patients.
The cluster is the latest in a string of outbreaks to infiltrate Melbourne hospitals, infecting healthcare workers and patients who are at heightened risk of dying from the virus.
An email from Monash Health chief executive Andrew Stripp sent to all staff on Tuesday warned any medical staff who had worked at Peninsula Health between August 3 and 17 were at risk of having contracted coronavirus.
Affected staff were urged to stay away from work until they were tested and cleared of the virus.
Peninsula Health said it was working closely with the Department of Health and Human Services and infection control experts to determine the cause of the outbreak and "immediately implement further mitigation strategies".
The DHHS confirmed its disease detectives was investigating cases linked to the Frankston Hospital cluster, along with infections linked to Spotless Cleaning at Chadstone Shopping Centre and AB Oxford Cold Storage in Laverton.
Details of the outbreak at Frankston Hospital have emerged a day after doctors, paramedics and other healthcare workers demanded the Andrews government guarantee that healthcare workers infected with coronavirus would automatically qualify for WorkCover compensation.
Healthcare staff now represent more than 14 per cent of active Victorian cases, with 2497 coronavirus cases detected in this group since the pandemic began, up from 2414 on Tuesday.
More than 3000 healthcare workers have signed a letter to federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, saying personal protective equipment and safety measures were below standard and fail to provide adequate protection.
Doctors and nurses said they have been given only surgical masks to care for suspected coronavirus patients, been forced to tape ill-fitting masks to their faces and have relied on donated gloves and masks in some instances.
Meanwhile, public hearings resume in the hotel quarantine inquiry on Thursday, when two nurses and four returned travellers are scheduled to give evidence. On Friday, two more returned travellers, a security guard and a government worker will be questioned.