As concern has increased, ERH has opened a clinic in order to take on the virus if it does arise.
“Due to the increase in queries about testing for the COVID-19, ERH has commenced a dedicated screening clinic to assist in identifying and, where indicated, testing people for the virus,” Echuca Regional Health executive director of nursing June Dyson said.
“All people who are referred to or self-present to the clinic will firstly be screened against a list of criteria, to see if testing is required,” she said.
People who have recently returned from overseas travel or may have been in close contact with confirmed cases of COVID-19 or have cold or flu-like symptoms upon returning from overseas will be prioritised in the testing and treatment process.
“Not all people will need to be tested,” June said.
“We will use the Department of Health Criteria to determine each person’s risk and whether testing will be required, but the majority of people we are seeing have not required testing.”
Echuca Moama Family Medical Practice GP Dr Claire Goodman said the clinic had implemented policies and precautions of its own to help combat the virus.
“We’re basing our response on the current recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services and those guidelines change every couple of days so our policy will also change,” she said.
“At this stage, we will triage anyone coming for an appointment. We will ask them whether it’s a routine appointment or if they’re unwell; and if it is a routine appointment, they will be asked if they have a travel history or not and that will be documented.
“If people are well, that’s fine and they can proceed with their appointment. For people who are unwell and have recently travelled, they really shouldn’t be going to our clinic or any of the other local clinics around town.”
Dr Goodman said if anyone presented to the practice with flu-like symptoms or had travelled recently, they would be directed to the ERH clinic.
She also said it was also important to follow instructions from doctors after a consultation.
“It’s really important to be aware not everyone who gets coronavirus will become very unwell and this makes the spread of the virus harder to contain because we don’t know who has it,” she said.
“If someone is advised they should be self-quarantining at home for a period of 14 days, it’s really important they do this because otherwise we will have the spread of coronavirus grow rapidly.
“There are some vulnerable groups — the older population, people with other chronic illnesses and immune-suppressed people — that may become quite unwell. If it spreads too quickly, we’ll have too many unwell people at once and we won’t have enough health resources to look after them.
“If we’re able to slow the spread then we still might get the same number of sick people, but if it is spread out, we will be able to give them better care and get better results.”
June said ERH was receiving clear advice from the state government on how to screen and manage people with suspected COVID-19.
“To date, we have not had any confirmed cases of COVID-19 from the people who have presented to ERH. As the situation may change in the coming days and weeks, our information will be updated both within the hospital and on our Facebook page,” she said.
If you have concerns about coronavirus, you can call the dedicated hotline on 1800 675 398.
