Visitor restrictions have been reintroduced at Bendigo Health after the spread of COVID-19 within the hospital.
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Bendigo Health chief executive Peter Faulkner said there were 17 patients in hospital who were COVID-19 positive.
"Quite a number of them ... have not come from the community with it, they have contracted the illness in the hospital," he said.
"For that reason, we have made changes to our policy in regards to masks, making all visitors and staff wear N95 masks, which we know are the most protective.
"We have also reduced the number of visitors a patient can have in a day to limit the amount of people in the hospital."
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Between the hours of 2pm and 7pm, patients will be allowed to have two visitors at any one time.
There is no limit on the number of visitors during the visiting period.
In residential aged care facilities, residents can have up to five visitors per day, but each one must return a negative RAT result before entering.
If no RAT is available at the facility, residents can have no more than two visitors.
Non-vaccinated visitors can only visit in the PODs or outside garden areas.
Mr Faulkner said the amount of staff having to furlough due to COVID-19 had reduced in recent months.
"We have about 10 people a day furloughing ... which is a lot less than we've had in the past," he said.
He said authorities were also watching the spread of the virus across other parts of the state.
"The latest public health advice we have is COVID-19 in the Loddon Mallee community has increased by 60 over the last week or two," Mr Faulkner said.
"Our message is to keep up with your hand hygiene, social distance and if you are eligible get your COVID-19 booster shot.
"We are seeing a few cases of other viral diseases coming through, so we encourage people to go out and get their influenza vaccination as well."
For more information on restrictions at Bendigo Health, visit bendigohealth.org.au/visiting_times
- If you are feeling unwell, you can contact NURSE-ON-CALL on 1300 60 60 24.
- In case of an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).
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Alex Gretgrix
Journalist based in Bendigo, Victoria, covering health and a few local shires at the Bendigo Advertiser. Contact via alex.gretgrix@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Journalist based in Bendigo, Victoria, covering health and a few local shires at the Bendigo Advertiser. Contact via alex.gretgrix@austcommunitymedia.com.au
