Face of Nation International : Up to 5,000 people are now in quarantine after authorities ordered Burnie’s North West Regional Hospital, and the North West Private Hospital, to close their doors.
Seventy-eight of Tasmania’s 150 confirmed COVID-19 cases are linked to the outbreak in the state’s north-west.
Speaking to a New Zealand parliamentary committee this morning, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy warned New Zealand to pay attention to Tasmania’s experience, and be prepared for further outbreaks.
“We thought we were doing really well in the last week and then we had a cluster of 49 cases in a hospital in Tasmania just over the weekend. Most of them went to an illegal dinner party of medical workers, we think,” he said.
Speaking later, Mr Gutwein said he “spoke to Brendan Murphy a short while ago” and said it was not yet clear if the dinner party “rumour” was true. “To be frank, Brendan was commenting on a rumour,” he said. “At this stage, contact tracing has not identified a dinner party of health workers.
“However, I accept that this is a serious allegation and it’s something that needs to be followed up. Mr Gutwein said he wanted to get to the bottom of the rumour as soon as possible.
“We need to understand whether or not there is any strength to the rumour. At the end of the day, I’m certain that there are many hardworking health professionals on the north-west coast that feel that their reputations are being maligned,” he said.
“Regardless of whether or not that party took place, it does not change the fact that we need to get on top of this outbreak. “It does not change the fact that we need to all work together on the north-west coast and across the state to ensure that we follow the rules.” (Source: ABC News – Australia)
