An independent report has found no evidence that an unvaccinated hospital worker breached Queensland COVID-19 public health directions when she contracted the virus at the Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane, Australia.
The Queensland state government on July 12 appointed Dr. Paul Griffin and Katherine Taylor to report on the events surrounding the infection of the staff member, who worked as a concierge staff member outside the COVID-19 ward in June.
Their report found no evidence the hospital or any individual failed to comply with the chief health officer’s directives. In fact, the report found the hospital had the appropriate policies, procedures, and practices in place.
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the report also identified opportunities to strengthen infection control, both at Prince Charles Hospital and in the broader health system.
“We’ve never seen anything like COVID-19 before and with different variants it continues to change and become more transmissible,” she said in a media release on Aug. 31. “It’s important we take every opportunity to learn and adapt, with work already underway to enhance infection control practices in our hospitals.”
The report has made a number of recommendations, including limiting the number of entry points, signage, and swipe care access procedures in COVID-19 wards. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
D’Ath said those recommendations were already being implements at Prince Charles Hospital.
“Importantly, the report noted a high level of understanding and compliance with infection control procedures and found no wrongdoing by MNHHS or any staff member,” she said. “But there’ll always be areas where we can improve our response, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The report recommended consideration be given to mandating vaccinations for all staff who work in proximity of COVID-19 wards, such as those who work in the same building.
The health minister said that Queensland’s hospitals that treat COVID-19 already had very high vaccination rates amongst staff with 77 percent fully vaccinated and 83 percent partially vaccinated.
“Importantly, the report confirmed no unvaccinated staff member had entered the COVID-19 ward at The Prince Charles Hospital,” D’Ath said.
