The Murrumbidgee Local Health District has paused some surgeries, radiography and out patient treatments at the Corowa Hospital, after one staff member and four patients recorded positive COVID-19 test results on Wednesday.
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MLHD COVID-19 coordinator Emma Field said the Emergency Department was still fully operational.
"When we have cases at the hospital and when we have this situation, we follow a very prescribed process in terms of making sure that we don't have any further risk come in and go out," she said.
"So we have ceased some outpatient services like your non-urgent radiography, for example, and some of those out patient clinics that we would do.
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"And our (elective) surgeries for this week have been paused as well, nothing that we are concerned will be late or anything like that, they've just been given alternative options.
"The ED is operating and fully functional, so that's the message there, please don't avoid care at the Corowa Hospital."
Ms Field said the temporary closure of the services was part of normal processes when COVID-19 was in a particular facility.
"We have enacted out the COVID-19 management plan there at Corowa ... so it's very safe to go," she said.
Ms Field said elderly patients had not been relocated due to the cases "intentionally".
"Any reason for people being moved that has happened within the normal compounds of how we manage our hospitals," she said.
"In terms of moving people out because of a risk, no, that has not happened because of COVID in terms of our residential aged care facility."
Ms Field said six hospital staff were in isolation and contact tracers were investigating a period of four days leading up to the one staff member's positive test..
"We have a risk matrix that we follow and if there's any risk whatsoever as we go through that process, they go into isolation for a certain amount of days based off what risk they have," she said.
Ms Field said MLHD didn't yet know the source of the cases, but it could be linked to the cluster in Rutherglen.
"It's a very close area, but it's very close to Albury as well, so at this stage it's very hard to pin point exactly," she said.
"We just simply dont know at this point, our public health team are working really hard in that contact tracing space and as a I said the outbreak management team are working really hard to identify the source, but at this stage it's a work in progress."
Ms Field said two COVID cases recorded Federation Shire in Thursday's data were connected to the hospital outbreak.
Ms Field said there'd been a surge in demand for testing in Corowa, up from the normal 20 to 30 people getting tested per day.
"But we had over 70 (on Wednesday)," she said.
"We've also opened up our testing facility between 10am and 3pm at the Corowa Hospital and we'll continue with that daily schedule...and we'll monitor that every day to see the need going forward.
"So if anyone in the Corowa community needs to come forward for testing, we would encourage you to do that."
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