Staff at the hospital serving tourist mecca Byron Bay in northern New South Wales say the facility is under “extreme strain”, with Covid-positive patients left in bays behind curtains and one patient waiting 45 hours to be transported to the region’s designated Covid hospital. As many as 100 people a day are arriving at the Byron Central hospital, stretching staff already depleted by Covid-forced absences. The hospital’s single isolation room was taken up by one Covid patient for almost two days earlier this week before being transported. The region also has a relatively high number of cases per 1,000 people, with another 1,154 Covid cases in northern NSW in the latest 24-hour reporting period. “Three of the people that have required oxygen with Covid this week have all been unvaccinated,” the senior staffer said.

Source: The Guardian January 08, 2022 01:24 UTC