Coronavirus crisis: Fear as COVID breach involving MV Darya Krishna crew exposes unvaccinated health workers

Two unvaccinated WA healthcare workers have been put into hotel quarantine for 14 days after a infection control breach during the transfer of three COVID positive crew from a virus-riddled ship.

Health Minister Roger Cook said the three critically-ill seafarers were removed from the MV Darya Krishna at Fremantle Port on Monday afternoon and taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital by ambulance.

On arrival at the hospital, the crew members were tested for COVID-19 and the results had since shown they were all infected.

The trio were initially kept in negative pressure rooms at FSH’s emergency department and then taken to the intensive care unit via a service lift which is not accessible to the public.

They rode the lift to level one, where ICU is located. The lift then went up to level nine, where it was “locked” to undergo cleaning and to be ventilated for 30 minutes.

But within 90 seconds of reaching level nine, the empty lift “overrode itself” and started moving due to a “mechanical failure” before it could be cleaned and ventilated.

Two hospital staff — a trainee nurse and a technician — were able to enter the lift on two separate occasions. They were initially told to isolate at home but have now been sent to hotel quarantine.

To compound the double blunder, both healthcare workers had decided they did not want to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, despite being eligible for a Pfizer jab since February.

Mr Cook said an investigation had been launched into the incident. The risk of the two healthcare workers contracting the virus was said to be “extremely low”.

He said there was “no excuse” for the protocol beach — the third involving the transfer of sick ship crew — and he was “very angry and disappointed and frustrated”.

“This is very disappointing and I’m not going to make excuses. It is simply not good enough,” Mr Cook said.

“But we are very clear about our instructions that all COVID protocols need to be followed to reduce the risk to the Western Australian community.

“The Premier and I have requested a full review of the incident to ensure this does not happen again.”

South Metropolitan Health Service CEO Paul Fordham said the lift’s electric control system was tested only last week and work was ongoing to identify the technical fault.

No sign was put on the lift doors to warn staff the lift had been used by COVID positive patients.

“The system should not fail like that, it's been tested. We've actually used it before for other COVID patients and it has been perfectly satisfactory,” he said.

“But we do take precautions and put in a spotter as a backup and that backup did work. The observed the lift, they identified it as failing and that's how that's how we were actually able to stop it at two members of staff.”

Mr Fordham said about 80 per cent of the 8000 staff at Fiona Stanley Hospital were vaccinated but he wanted coverage at 100 per cent. All of the staff involved in the transfer of the crew were vaccinated.

“I think it is (a wake-up call). I’ve encouraged every single member of our staff to get vaccinated. It is our best defence against COVID,” he said.

About 85 per cent of frontline metropolitan healthcare staff had received their first COVID vaccine dose, while more than 80 per cent were fully vaccinated.

Mr Cook said he expected anyone working in healthcare to “lead by example and get themselves vaccinated as soon as possible. He warned there may come a time where vaccination is mandatory for some hospital workers.

“It is a wake up calling in the sense that I think people working in our health system should be aware that even though they aren't working in an area which is specifically aligned with COVID-19 patients, or that they would necessarily come in contact with them, the fact of the matter is that hospitals are big dynamic spaces in which there are a lot of people moving around,” Mr Cook said.

“So my message to all healthcare workers, and it has been the same message all along, get yourself vaccinated as quickly as possible, because it's an important part of protecting themselves, protecting our patients and protecting their families.”

One of the sick crew is in a stable condition in ICU, while the other two are on a respiratory ward. Five of the remaining 17 sailors still on the ship are symptomatic. All are due to be tested today.

It’s the third infection control breaches at hospitals involving COVID-infected ship crew this year.

Earlier this month, a Geraldton Health Campus staffer who was not wearing PPE when they entered a lift shortly after a crewman from the virus-infected MV Emerald Indah exited from it was declared a close contact

Another 50 staff, patients and visitors at the hospital were later treated as casual contacts after it emerged the sick seafarer spent three hours in the emergency department.

In April, an investigation was launched after a staff member removed their surgical mask prematurely as they exited the room of the COVID-positive captain of the MV AquaGenie.

Opposition health spokeswoman Libby Mettam called for the findings of the past investigations to be released.

"It is absolutely not good enough and both the staff and patients deserve to know why their safety has been compromised, particularly when we know Fiona Stanley Hospital has been under extreme pressure in the last week with multiple Code Yellows called due to a lack of beds,” she said.

"It’s clear the Health Minister is asleep at the wheel, distracted by his multiple other portfolios, and our hospital staff are paying the price."