AHPRA is re-registering 40,000 former health practitioners as temporary backup for the health workforce.
Thanks for joining us again today on TMR‘s COVID-19 blog.
Got any tips, comments, questions or confirmations? Email bianca@biancanogrady.com.
The latest
- What the heck happened today? Here are some stories you might have missed.
- AHPRA is re-registering 40,000 former health practitioners as temporary backup for the health workforce. Read more.
- RACGP has a webinar on telehealth and electronic prescribing tonight at 6.30pm AEST. Register here.
- I hope you have all survived the day – April Fool’s Day, I mean.
Here are some of the main headlines from today, none of which are particularly funny, sorry. (In case you are desperate for a tired giggle, check out The Medical Republic‘s collection of COVID-19 memes, collated by Francine Crimmins. Feel free to send us any others you come across.)
– The COVID-19 mortality rate for the general population looks to be 1.38%, but this skyrockets to 13% among those aged over 80 years.
– The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia has announced we may/probably/likely have the highest global rate of diagnostic COVID-19 pathology testing per 100,000 population.
– AHPRA is re-registering 40,000 former health practitioners as temporary backup for the health workforce.
– Nearly one-third of patients with COVID-19 may have viral conjunctivitis.
– A survey of 100 doctors has found that while half of GPs report being busier during the COVID-19 pandemic, 27% reported no change, and 22% were actually less busy.
– Spammers and malware merchants are taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to “lure us into a corona-shaped trap”.
– The Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, RACGP and AMA are all telling people to get their influenza vaccines early this year.
- The Australian Association of Practice Management has postponed its 2020 National Conference until October 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The association also said it’s looking to electronic delivery of its education programs using videoconferencing, and shifting its Practice Manager Education Days to later in the year.
- AHPRA is re-registering 40,000 former health practitioners as temporary backup for the health workforce.
Only those who left practice in the past three years and who had not been subject to regulatory action are included in the “pandemic sub-register”, which is opt-out and involves no registration fees. The 4800 medical practitioners, 32,000 nurses, 4200 midwives and 2200 pharmacists will be available for work from Monday.
Anyone with a health condition that makes them susceptible to COVID-19, or who would have trouble obtaining professional indemnity, or who was “not suitable or safe to practise” will be strongly encouraged to opt out, says AHPRA CEO Martin Fletcher.
But RACGP President Dr Harry Nespolon says with the number of consultations falling by up to 50% in some general practices, it seems unlikely at this point that more GPs will be needed.
More in tomorrow’s newsletter.
4.30pm, 1 April
- If you feel like you’re struggling to stay on top of all the COVID-19 news, this might put things in perspective. As biomedical scientist Dr Darren Saunders has pointed out on Twitter, there have been more than 1000 preprint manuscripts on COVID-19 posted since early January.
- Get your flu vax while it’s hot! The Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, RACGP and AMA are all telling people to get their influenza vaccines early this year, with the reminder that Australia is coming into flu season and it’s a disease that – like COVID-19 – is very serious for the more vulnerable members of the community.
3.55pm, 1 April
- The Medical Research Future Fund is slinging cash around to fund clinical trials for COVID-19 tests and treatments. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has announced $13 million to fast-track research into COVID-19 treatments, as well as grant opportunities for respiratory medicine clinical trials and antiviral development.
3.35pm, 1 April
- The RACGP is running a webinar on telehealth and electronic prescribing tonight from 6.30pm-7.30pm AEST on Zoom. Register here.
- Step up your online infection control measures as well as your personal hygiene practices, because spammers and malware merchants are taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to “lure us into a corona-shaped trap”, reports data journalism site Statista.
So far in 2020, Trend Micro – a multinational cyber security company – has detected more than 300,000 unique online threats that are making use of the COVID-19 pandemic and people’s desperation for information about the disease. The emails look like they are from official organisations, supposedly containing updates on and recommendations about the disease, but include malicious attachments.
Just as you wouldn’t shake someone’s hand during this pandemic, take the same approach with your email: never click on suspicious attachments or links in an email.
11.50am, 1 April
- We wish it was a joke, but it’s not: doctors in India are reportedly resorting to raincoats and motorbike helmets as personal protective equipment. News services say that junior doctors at a major coronavirus treatment facility in Kolkata were given plastic raincoats to examine patients, while a physician near New Delhi said he had been using a motorbike helmet due to a lack of N95 masks.
- Not everyone’s flat-out with COVID-19. Pharma In Focus reports that a survey of 100 doctors has found that while half of GPs report being busier during the COVID-19 pandemic, 27% reported no change, and 22% were actually less busy.
Corporate clinics seem to be quieter than others, with two-thirds of GPs there saying they had less work. And specialists are practically twiddling their thumbs – only 29% of them reported an increased workload – except for medical oncologists, who are as slammed as GPs.
Meanwhile, the magazine also reported that Medicines Australia has advised its members to be cautious about spamming doctors at such a busy time, after a number of complaints were received from health professionals. In a letter obtained by Pharma In Focus, Medicines Australia CEO Elizabeth de Somer noted that the increase was not just in virtual meetings, but also in promotional emails and hard copy mail.
- Nearly one-third of patients with COVID-19 may have viral conjunctivitis, with symptoms such as swelling of the conjunctiva, excessive wateriness and secretions.
Writing in JAMA Ophthalmology, researchers from Hubei province report a retrospective study in 38 patients with clinically confirmed COVID-19; 12 (31.6%) of whom had ocular manifestations of infection. These patients were more likely to have higher white blood cell and neutrophil counts – markers of inflammatory response to infection – as well as higher levels of procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, and lactate dehydrogenase compared to patients without eye symptoms.
However only two patients (5.2%) had positive conjunctival swabs, which is consistent with previous studies on SARS.
- Here are the latest figures on confirmed COVID-19 cases in Australia, to 6am this morning:
National – 4,707 (up 348 since 6:00am yesterday) and 20 deaths
ACT – 80
NSW – 2182
NT – 16
QLD – 743
SA – 337
TAS – 68
VIC – 917
WA – 364
Some other fast facts:
– The majority of confirmed cases are still acquired overseas, mostly from Europe, the Americas, and cruise ships (which are on par with all of Europe as a source of infections in Australia);
– The highest number of infections is in the 20-29 years age group, which account for around 11.3% of infections so far, according to the Guardian (we’re looking at you, Bondi backpackers). The next highest age group is the 60-69 years group – hello, cruise-shippers, and thanks for joining the party.
- In the COVID-19 testing Olympics, Australia is winning!
We might be pulling a bit of a Steven Bradbury on this, but the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia has announced we may/probably/likely have the highest rate of diagnostic COVID-19 pathology testing per 100,000 population. So far, more than 230,000 tests for SARS-CoV-2 have been done in Australia, with one laboratory chain reporting around 1000 tests per day.
“The only way to manage an infectious outbreak is to identify the cases, quarantine them and then contact trace,” says Dr Michael Harrison, spokesperson and former President of the College. “Pathology laboratories have ensured there are enough resources and workarounds in place to keep testing; which has been a real success.”
- Around 1.38% of people with COVID-19 will die from the disease, but among people aged over 80, that figure could be as high as 13%, new research suggests.
A paper in The Lancet has used data from 24 COVID-19 deaths in mainland China and 165 recoveries outside of China to estimate case fatality ratios of 0.32% in those aged under 60 years but 6.4% in those aged 60 years or older. The lowest mortality rates were in children; those aged 0-9 years had a case fatality ratio of 0·0026%.
“Although this value remains lower than estimates for other coronaviruses, including SARS, and MERS, it is substantially higher than estimates from the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic,” the authors wrote.
Death from COVID-19 occurs in an average of 17.8 days. Among those who recover, the average time from symptom onset to hospital discharge is 24.7 days.
