COVID-19 (novel coronavirus)

A drive-through COVID-19 community assessment clinic has opened at Reid Park, Railway Estate, Townsville to allow easier access and throughput for our community.

The clinic will operate from 9.30am until 5pm, seven days a week.

A person is eligible for testing if they have a fever (or history of fever) or acute respiratory symptoms (cough, sore throat, shortness of breath).

For health advice contact 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).

We’ve made some significant changes to our visiting hours to reduce the potential exposure of staff and patients to respiratory viruses, such as COVID-19 and influenza. 

Townsville HHS Hospitals

Residential aged care facilities

Please note that for residential aged care facilities a maximum of two visitors are allowed once per day provided they are well (screening will take place prior to entry), the visits are short and the visits are conducted in line with social distancing.

Anyone who has returned from overseas in the past 14 days, been in contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case in the past 14 days and those who are unwell will not be able to enter our residential aged care facilities.

People who have not been vaccinated against influenza will not be able to visit.

Outpatient appointment changes due to COVID-19 – Frequently Asked Questions

Townsville Hospital and Health Service has resumed outpatient services which had been previously postponed to allow our hospitals to respond to COVID-19.

Category two and some category three outpatient appointments have now recommenced across our medical, surgical and women’s and children’s clinics.

Patients who have planned care appointments will be contacted directly.

You can bring two support people to outpatient appointments across all Townsville Hospital and Health Service facilities.

If you are unwell, are unable to attend or are in self-isolation or quarantine due to COVID-19 it is important that you let us know and we will rebook you.

If your condition worsens during this period, seek advice from your GP.

Townsville Hospital and Health Service began a staged reintroduction of elective surgery on Monday, 27 April to include all category two patients and some priority category 3 surgery.

Patients whose planned care surgeries are recommencing will be contacted directly.

If you are unwell, are unable to attend or are in self-isolation or quarantine due to COVID-19 it is important that you let us know and we will rebook you.

If we must reschedule your procedure you will not lose your place.

Most category three surgery in both the public and private systems remain suspended; however, if your condition worsens during this period seek advice from your GP.

Our facilities remain safe and we are prepared to offer the best care before, during and after your birth. Townsville University Hospital’s birthing and maternity services continue to offer comprehensive and safe access to care; we are just doing things a little differently.

We support all women to have a support person with them at all times when they are birthing. Our visiting hours to the Maternity unit reflect the current guidance from Queensland Health, and may change depending on the latest advice. 

We’ve moved many antenatal appointments to phone and telehealth. For those women who attend the hospital for appointments, we’ve reduced the number of people who can be there as a support person.

New mums are discharged when it is clinically appropriate, that hasn’t changed. There has always been an option for a six-hour discharge, and we have seen a small uptake in women choosing this option recently. This small increase has been predicated on mothers wanting to introduce their bubs to the family, not due to any increase in risk to exposure to COVID-19.

It is also important to note, just like our normal services, there are significant midwifery support mechanisms in place for new mothers’ post-discharge. This includes regular access to midwives and lactation consultant services in the first seven to 10 days through the Midwifery Care Program and up to six weeks for women who have a caseload midwife.

There is also support available through home visits by a child health nurse who monitors the growth of the baby and provides advice and support to new families.

Overwhelmingly, our mums have been grateful to us for taking these practical steps in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We want our mums to know that we are there for them during these trying times; now and into the future.

Online Childbirth and Parenting Education Sessions are now available.  

In the place of group face-to-face sessions the Childbirth Education Team are now running online sessions.

Online sessions available: Childbirth and Parenting; Breastfeeding; Relaxation and Massage; Refresher Course; Young Parents Program and Birth after Caesarean Information. For more specific details and dates click here.

Women should continue to use the recommended referral process. If you have not completed a referral form, you can email {"ct":"RhAABYi4cz1Npxg8IGcUHh04UOQCQaMurSLTQIIP5KxWrHLHnljqhcrpz5QyMJTt","iv":"25e748b319a45250f2c1c0a3c1fb7f4e","s":"757973ca5ad3f347"}. Include your name, date of birth, date baby is due, sessions of interest and a contact phone number. A member of the team will be in touch regarding your booking details.

If you have any questions about these services please call 4433 1450 Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm.

Oral Health Services has recommenced denture and orthodontics procedures.

Child and adolescent school dental programs and adult dental services remain limited to emergency and restricted services under national guidelines.

Eligible children and adolescents can use the Medicare Child Dental Benefit Scheme benefit at any of our clinics and vans under the current restrictions. Dental vans for the Child and Adolescent Oral Health Service are planned to reopen on 25 May (subject to change).

If you, or a dependent, develops a dental emergency, please call 1300 300 850. Please note, there is currently no option for parents, or patients, to ‘walk in’ and make appointments.

The Department of Health has taken the decision that BreastScreen Queensland services can recommence with BSQ Townsville resuming screening from Friday, 1 May.

Bookings for screening appointments recommenced on 27 April and appointments can be made by calling 13 20 50.

Clients who had appointments cancelled during the temporary suspension will be contacted directly to schedule a new appointment.

There will be increased precautions and social distancing for all BreastScreen activities which will have a minimal impact on clients.

If you are unwell, awaiting a COVID-19 test result, are unable to attend for any other reason or are in self-isolation or quarantine due to COVID-19 it is important that you let us know and we will reschedule your appointment.

We understand that some women may have concerns about attending screening at this time. If this is you, please talk to your doctor about whether breast screening at this time is right for you based on your individual circumstances.

From Tuesday, 5 May Townsville Hospital and Health Service will recommence category one and two endoscopies and gastroscopies. 

Outreach services to Ingham and Ayr will recommenced from Wednesday, 13 May. Services to Charters Towers have not yet recommenced; dates for recommencement will be posted as soon as possible.

Patients whose planned care appointments are resuming will be contacted directly, please do not contact the unit.

All urgent one and two colonoscopies and endoscopies are also continuing.

If you are unwell, are unable to attend or are in self-isolation or quarantine due to COVID-19 it is important that you let us know and we will rebook you.

If we must reschedule your appointment you will not lose your place.

All category three procedures remained postponed.

COVID-19 is a new, or novel, strain of virus in the coronavirus family that has not been previously identified. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

COVID-19 was discovered in 2019 when a higher than normal number of people in Wuhan, China, started to get pneumonia after having an illness similar to the flu. When doctors tested them, they found these people had a type of coronavirus they hadn’t seen before. There were already lots of types of coronavirus in the world, but this one was new.

Symptoms

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, which means it affects the parts of your body you use to breathe: your nose, throat and lungs. If you’re sick with COVID-19, your symptoms might include:

• fever
• a cough
• sore throat
• fatigue
• shortness of breath.

Queensland Health have an online COVID-19 symptoms quiz that may also help.

COVID-19 spreads between people, usually when a sick person coughs or sneezes.

These droplets can enter your body through the mucous membranes (wet parts) of your face – your eyes, nose and mouth – which provide a direct pathway to your throat and lungs. The good news is that it can’t get in through other parts of your body like your skin or your hair, but you might be surprised just how easily it can get to the mucous membranes of your face.

First of all, the droplets from someone’s cough or sneeze might fall directly into your eyes, nose or mouth if you’re close enough to the infected person, letting the virus enter your system straight away.

Or, the droplets might fall onto a surface where you then put your hands. If you don’t wash your hands, you could move the virus into your eyes, nose or mouth and become infected. The infected person might also get the droplets on their hands if they cough or sneeze into them, and then place them on a surface, where you pick them up.

Direct membrane-to-membrane contact can also spread the virus. This could happen by kissing. The virus can also be spread by sharing items that go in your mouth, eyes or nose, like cutlery, cups, straws, water bottles or cosmetics.

Can COVID-19 spread through the air?

So far, studies show that people are mainly catching COVID-19 through these droplets, rather than the virus hanging out in the air. This is good news, because it means if an infected person is in a room, breathes for a while, then leaves the room, the virus isn’t lurking in the air waiting for the next person to come in. If with further study we find out this information has changed, we’ll let you know.

Because it’s a new virus, everyone is at risk of catching COVID-19, because our immune systems don’t recognise it yet. This is why everyone around the world is trying so hard to make sure that people with the virus don’t pass it on to others.

This doesn’t mean that everyone is going to get COVID-19, but it does mean we all have a role to play in keeping ourselves and others well. The more everyone follows the advice to wash their hands often and properly, stay at home as much as possible, and stay home when they’re sick, the fewer people will catch this virus.

Who is most at risk of getting seriously unwell from COVID-19?

In countries like China, where there has been the most cases COVID-19, people who have become seriously unwell have been elderly (over 70-years-old) or have already had a health condition like a high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, or are immunocompromised.

We haven’t had many cases in Queensland yet, so it’s too early to tell exactly how this virus will affect Queenslanders. We expect that most people in Queensland who catch COVID-19 will experience a mild illness, like a cold, that lasts a few weeks.

Washing your hands often and properly means that you can prevent viruses from entering your body. That means washing your hands when you’ve been out and about and before you eat (and after you go to the toilet!).

Did you know there are six steps to washing your hands properly? Follow the below steps to make sure you’re washing your hands successfully.

Try to stay at least 1.5 metres away from people who are coughing or sneezing. Even if they don’t have COVID-19, they might have germs you don’t want anyway!

We are now asking all Queenslanders to follow social distancing practices:

• Stay home as much as possible.
• Keep 1.5 metres away from others as much as possible.
• Avoid shaking hands, kissing or hugging others.
• If you can, work from home.
• Avoid gatherings that aren’t essential.

You can find more information in our blog, How does COVID-19 spread and how can I stop myself from catching it.

As soon as an individual returns a positive result for COVID-19, just like with other contagious viruses such as measles, we undertake what is called contact tracing to prevent the infection spreading further through the community.

As part of this process, we speak to the patient to identify anyone who might have had close contact with them during their infectious window.

If there are people who are considered as close contacts, who are at a higher risk, our staff follow up with them directly.  If they begin showing symptoms, we assess them faster and take the right action.

If we can’t identify people who could have been in close contact with a confirmed case, we will issue a public health alert with specific dates, times and locations that the public should be aware of. Only people who match the exact criteria provided need to contact us.

Close contact

Close contacts are those who have had face-to-face contact with a confirmed case for a period more than 15 minutes, or those who have shared an enclosed space with a confirmed case for more than two hours.

We are not looking for people the person may have passed on the street or in a shop, as the risk in these situations is extremely low.

If you have been in close contact with someone who has a confirmed case of COVID-19 you need to self-quarantine for 14 days from your last contact with them. If you become unwell during that period, see a doctor immediately.

View current public contact tracing alerts.

People are asked to quarantine themselves before they get sick in order to stop or slow the spread of the virus. For example, you may be asked to self-quarantine in your home, hotel room or provided accommodation, and not leave for 14 days if you have just returned home from overseas.

If you are a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 you will be asked to self-isolate unless your symptoms require treatment in a hospital.

To sum it up: isolation is for people who are sick and have tested positive for coronavirus, and must self-isolate while recovering. Quarantine is when you are told by a doctor or the Government you must stay at home for 14 days.