ALMOST 50 new beds have been installed at Warrnambool Base Hospital to make room for more patients amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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On Wednesday South West Healthcare announced the recommissioning of old wards to provide additional beds and a COVID-19 specific unit, doubling the number of intensive care unit beds at the hospital.
The work includes the recommissioning of what was an intensive care unit eight years ago to provide an additional six ICU beds.
A second decommissioned area that was a paediatric unit eight years ago will provide an additional 20 hospital beds, and a new dedicated COVID-19 ward will have 20 new beds.
SWH critical care and infection prevention director Mark Page said the number of community transmissions of COVID-19 was not yet known.
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"It's not over, we're not through this yet and it's not a time to relax, we've seen a slight downturn in cases because returned travellers with infections have stopped returning home but what we don't know is how much community transfer there is," he said.
"There is a significant chance of ongoing community transmission that we won't see at the hospital usually until two to four weeks down the track because it takes about two weeks for people to develop symptoms of the infection.
"This is not the time to take the foot off the accelerator for a condition that has no vaccine and no treatment, we need to reinforce no contact is the way to beat it."
This is not the time to take the foot off the accelerator for a condition that has no vaccine and no treatment.
- Dr Mark Page
SWH chief executive Craig Fraser could not say how much it cost the public hospital to install the new beds and wards and that no new staff had been deployed to man those extra facilities at this stage.
Staff are currently being retrained to step up to intensive care levels.
"Over the last three weeks we have worked on a new ICU, we've also recommissioned a new ward which was a very old ward used as a storage area and we also have started a new COVID ward which is for suspected and confirmed cases so that we are ensuring we've got maximum protections for those in place," he said.
"To be frank it's costing quite a lot of money but at this point in time we are so aware that we need to be prepared for the worst but hoping for the best."
The upgrades at the hospital have included sourcing additional ventilators and repurposing of machines to fill ventilator shortage needs.
St John of God Warrnambool have been assisting South West Healthcare with elective surgeries they would otherwise not be able to perform.
Dr Page said the hospital was working with local suppliers to make a hospital-grade disinfectant and personal protective equipment.
He said while four of the six people that tested positive for COVID-19 at Warrnambool's screening clinic are now clear of the virus, it wasn't clear when patients stop spreading the virus.
"As to exactly how long you remain infectious that is still under investigation but it's thought that three days after your symptoms have resolved the chance you're infectious is close to zero."
The number of COVID-19 cases in the south-west are:
- Warrnambool - 5
- Moyne - 1
- Corangamite - 1
- Southern Grampians - 2
There were 1212 in Victoria on Wednesday, up 21 cases from the day before.
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