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New PROTECT Phase:what it means. |
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Written by Craig
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Australia has announced a new pandemic response phase - PROTECT - it was unprecedented but it makes sense.
Prior to this pandemic we had not envisaged a "PROTECT" phase - but it is a smart response to a pandemic that, as described in the PROTECT guidance, is "mild in most", "severe in some".
Personally, its been an interesting time these last weeks working in a public health emergency operations centre, there has been a massive effort to attempt to identify all cases and their contacts and stop them from spreading the disease further. But its clear that this pandemic is not containable and the risk was that the public health interventions, quarantine etc, were more disruptive than the pandemic itself. Hence the new PROTECT phase, no quarantine and only voluntary isolation of cases for a week.
What does this mean for the workplace? It means normalising this influenza pandemic strain - treat it, maybe not as you usually treat seasonal flu, but as you should treat seasonal flu. Identify ill workers before they infect others, keep them at home for 7 days maintain good respiratory etiquette in the workplace to minimise transmission. But, assume that many, many of your staff will be infected with this new strain. This H1N1 strain appears to be more transmissible than seasonal flu and we may see short sharp regional outbreaks over 6 to 8 week periods. So workplaces within an average size town or small city may see a rapid rise and fall in cases over 6 to 8 weeks. Transmission is likely to be particularly rapid among workers of school aged children. So again, focus on core functions, don't try to invent too many new functions to cope with the pandemic, better to pare things down to the minimum.
Also, don't send staff off to get tested for swine flu, doctors are only meant to test patients with underlying illness or pregnancy who are at risk of severe illness. |
