Surgical masks rationed in WA private hospitals as Australian Medical Association WA president Andrew Miller says coronavirus outbreak ‘inevitable’

Surgical masks are being rationed in WA private hospitals to prepare for what the peak doctors’ group says is an “inevitable” coronavirus outbreak. Australian Medical Association WA president Andrew Miller said “non-scrubbed” personnel such as anaesthetists, orderlies and some nurses had been told to stop wearing masks during operations. And supplies of single-use N95 respirator masks had been limited to two per GP practice. Dr Miller said surgical masks were being “locked away” by private hospital bosses as the WA health system moved on to a “war footing” in the fight against coronavirus. “We’re on rationing at the moment for normal surgical masks. “There are still some dwindling supplies around but they are starting to get locked up for if this (virus) comes,” he said. “At the moment there’s not people operating without masks, but they’ve told non-scrubbed personnel — people who would normally where masks in operating theatres but not directly involved in the operation — to not wear masks.”He said imports of masks from China had stopped and warned medicos could have to work without personal protection equipment. “Commonwealth have a stockpile of N95 masks, but they’re not going to be able to get any more and our view is they certainly don’t have enough,” Dr Miller said. “We’re going to have to get a bit ‘MacGyver’ and figure out if there is other ways to protect ourselves other than the traditional masks that we would have had,” Dr Miller said. “When this is all done there’s going to be a lot of questions about why the hell were we dependent on China for something which is so important to our pandemic response,” he said. Dr Miller, an anaesthetist, said an outbreak in Perth was “inevitable”. A WA Health spokesman said most masks supplied to public hospitals were not imported from China. He said the health system “continues to receive its regular supply of surgical and N95 masks and is in constant contact with our suppliers to ensure we have sufficient stock for normal clinical activities”. “The WA health system holds a contingency supply of surgical and N95 masks and is able to access these in the event of a public health emergency,” he said. A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “Presently, WA public hospitals have not changed PPE processes for non-scrubbed personnel.” Royal Australian College of General Practitioners State manager Hamish Milne said some GPs were concerned that without enough personal protective equipment they were at risk of contracting coronavirus. The WA Primary Health Alliance said given the “national shortage”, as a preparatory measure it was agreed each general practice in WA would be offered two N95 masks. “This means practices across WA will be prepared in the event of a seriously ill patient presenting with pneumonia-like symptoms, while they await transfer to a hospital,” a spokeswoman said. “This latest distribution is in addition to an earlier supply of surgical masks, boxes of which have already been sent to general practices. “These offer adequate protection when assessing patients with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, but who are not severely ill. An earlier supply of surgical masks were also sent to GPs. She said if GPs use their initial supply they could request more.