South West Healthcare staff struck by post May Racing Carnival COVID-19 outbreak

In the 24 hours to Friday, 121 new cases were recorded, bringing the total number of active cases to 750.

This comes after leading into Tuesday there were 160 new cases, into Wednesday 166, then a drop to 137 leading into Thursday.

A South West Healthcare spokeswoman said SWH had a significant number of staff currently isolating. "The impact of that is felt differently each day, depending on how many of those people are rostered on to work," she said.

The spokeswoman said SWH adjusted some services by redirecting staff from non-urgent functions to core services.

"We hope to be back at full operating conditions by early next week," she said. "The general public will continue to receive the care they need, but as stated previously this week, waiting times will be impacted."

The spokeswoman said SWH had access to its own casual workforce to draw on.

"We can draw from and we have been assisted by neighbouring health services as we all work closely together," she said. "We modify our functions to fit when needed, like any business that is impacted by staff on leave."

The spokeswoman said it had been in contact with staff isolating for seven days and said the short-lived staffing issue related to a large-scale public event.

An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said while there was a number of AV staff off due to COVID-19, shifts were being filled. "This will not impact the level of care we provide to the community," the spokeswoman said.

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