Frontline Healthcare Workers At St Vincent's Hospital Adapt To Life Between The Red and Green Zones As Pandemic Approaches Third Year

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 04: India Wells, RN and ED OPNUM and Ed McGregor, ED Registrar Manager handle incoming patients details at St Vincent's Hospital Emergency Department on December 04, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. Since the World Health Organisation declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020 St Vincent's Hospital staff have been at the forefront of research and response to COVID-19 in Sydney, Australia, providing emergency care in specially designed COVID care wards including negative pressure bubbles (the bubble), facilitating vaccination hubs, virtual COVID care in the community, swab processing and outreach programs to treat the homeless, as well as inmates in correctional centres. To combat infection spread the hospital set up a separate COVID-19 section of the emergency department, utilising a newly built section of the hospital to have a Red (COVID-19) zone and a Green (general emergency zone). During the rise and spread of the Delta variant, some 774 people were treated as inpatients for COVID-19 while 731 people were cared for via St Vincent's virtual hospital program. Patients hospitalised due to COVID-19 often required increased staffing ratios per patient and stay on average over 14 days in hospital. Staff expect the demand for ongoing treatment will continue to grow as an estimated 30% of people who contract COVID-19 suffer persistent symptoms, known as 'long COVID'. As the COVID-19 pandemic enters a third year, St Vincent's frontline staff are comforted by Australia's high vaccination rate and prepared for what may come as new variants emerge. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)