Geraldton hospital COVID breach: Man was in emergency department for three hours before lift breach

A COVID protocol breach at Geraldton Health Campus has put one person into isolation, more than 50 casual contacts at-risk and the entire State on edge. The breach occurred when a crew member on the MV Emerald Indah was taken to the Mid West hospital on Sunday with COVID-19 symptoms. Despite being flagged as a suspected case, the man remained in the Geraldton emergency department for three hours. WA Country Health Service today conceded that was too long and has deemed everyone in the ED during that time period as casual contacts. There are 28 staff, 18 patients and five visitors now being tested for COVID-19, however they have not been required to isolate. The staff identified as casual contacts are permitted to continue working at the hospital while awaiting further testing. The Health Department also revealed it had known about a security breach that occurred in Geraldton before the man was transferred to Perth. A staff member who was not wearing the correct PPE entered a lift just minutes after it was used by the COVID-positive man. That staff member was fully vaccinated and has not yet received a COVID test. They have been made to isolate for 14 days and are classified as a close contact, as the lift had not undergone cleaning. WACHS principle health officer Helen Van Gessel said the breach occurred on the Monday, despite a “specific route” in the hospital being mapped out beforehand. She said getting the patient through the ward, down the lift and into the waiting ambulance had been planned, with the staff involved in the transfer wearing the correct PPE gear. However, a staff member who was not involved in the transportation of the COVID patient entered the lift moments later and caused a breach. Dr Van Gessel said this “error” was “immediately identified” and the staff member was sent home to isolate for 14 days. “The staff member didn’t have any contact with the community,” Dr Van Gessel said. Despite the admission WACHS had known about the breach as soon as it occurred, the public was only told on Wednesday afternoon. It follows Premier Mark Mr McGowan on Monday saying the boat’s situation was “less than ideal” but the crew member had been managed with the “appropriate infection prevention and control prevention” measures. Review Dr Van Gessel said a “really thorough” post-event analysis was carried out to review the situation. WACHS public health emergency operations coordinator Dr Clare Huppatz said it was normal procedure for hospitals to investigate where a COVID-positive patient had been to determine if there were any protocol breaches. “We reviewed the passage of that patient right through the hospital from the emergency department through to the ward and when they departed the hospital,” Dr Huppatz said. Admitting “WACHS had already determined that the breach had occurred when a staff member had potentially been exposed by entering a lift that the patient had been”. Dr Huppatz said after going through the footage with a “fine tooth comb” a decision was made to treat everyone in the ED as a casual contact because of exposure time and pressure system of the room. “The emergency department was not an isolated negative pressure room ... the other people that were in the emergency department at the same time, who were not wearing PPE (are) casual contacts,” Dr Huppatz said. Despite the serious breach Dr Huppatz said WACHS had “good, clear protocols and all of them were followed”. Adding “but on this occasion, the patient was in the emergency department for longer than you would normally expect, up to three hours”. She said there was now a “small risk” transmission may have occurred. “This is out of an abundance of caution that we are making this call,” she said. No need to isolate Dr Huppatz said the casual contacts could “go about their normal business” and would just be required to get three COVID tests on days three, seven and 11. “It's a very precautionary approach that we're taking to ensure that the community remains safe from COVID,” she said. Dr Van Gessel said she believed the risk to the Geraldton community was low and said up until a couple of months ago, such a severe stance probably would not have been taken. She said the cases which were more transmissible — such as the Delta variant — placed early detection as a key defence. Dr Van Gessel said testing and swabs would start today, with testing of the patients and visitors “still in progress”. She said the testing of staff would occur over the next 24 hours. She confirmed everyone in the ED had been identified because of the contact information patients are required to provide upon presentation. Mr McGowan said he was “extremely disappointed” after hearing about the breach, claiming “more should have been done at the hospital to mitigate this”. “This is a timely reminder that we cannot be complacent and our health staff should take every precaution in this unpredictable COVID-world,” Mr McGowan said. “I do not want to see this repeated.” Mr McGowan said WA Health was looking into the incident to ensure “best practice” was being followed. “Our health experts have advised this incident presents a very low risk and the situation will continue to be monitored closely. The individual involved was fully vaccinated,” he said. He urged those eligible to get vaccinated. WACHS said the lift breach should not have occurred and it would do everything it could to ensure it would not happen again. Second lift incident However it’s not the first time a lift breach has sent WA on high alert. A Royal Perth Hospital staff member caring for a COVID-positive patient removed their surgical mask before completely exiting a patient’s room in April. It followed an incident where service lift at the same hospital was not appropriately cordoned off after it was used to transport the captain of the bulk-carrier MV AquaGenie from the emergency department to the intensive care unit. Three staff members who were not wearing PPE used the lift prior to it being cleaned. Health Minister Roger Cook at the time said it was being investigated. The latest report is the crew members of the ship are “well” with the COVID-positive man in a stable condition. Geraldton MLA Lara Dalton said measures would be taken to ensure no further breaches occurred. “I am pleased a full review of WACHS’ COVID policies and procedures will now take place to ensure this situation is not repeated,” she said. “The Geraldton community has the right to expect everyone is doing the right thing to keep our community safe.”