The Hon Greg Hunt MP
Minister for Health and Aged Care
The Australian Government has today announced significant quantities of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will be made available for GPs, community pharmacies and other healthcare providers across south east Queensland who need to see their patients within their practices.
This decision follows the lockdown of the City of Brisbane, Moreton Bay Region, Redland City, Logan City, City of Ipswich, Shire of Noosa, City of Gold Coast, Lockyer Valley Region, Scenic Rim Region, Somerset Region and Sunshine Coast Region Local Government Areas.
Health professionals in these areas are able to request a package of PPE from the National Medical Stockpile (NMS) through their local Primary Health Network (PHN) from an initial allocation of up to:
- 725,000 surgical masks;
- 725,000 N95 masks;
- 175,000 pairs of gloves;
- 175,000 gowns; and
- 175,000 goggles.
These items will be made available through the five PHNs relevant to the Commonwealth hotspot, namely:
- Brisbane North;
- Brisbane South;
- Darling Downs and West Moreton;
- Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast; and
- Gold Coast.
These packages will assist to further supress the COVID-19 infection rate occurring across Queensland and builds on the recent commitment to support New South Wales and Victoria as announced on 12 July 2021 and 19 July 2021 respectively.
The Australian Government is committed to ensuring that healthcare professionals have access to the critical PPE supplies they require to continue to safely see their patients during this COVID-19 outbreak.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Australian Government has deployed more than 92 million masks, 6 million gowns, 14 million gloves and 5 million goggles and face shields from the National Medical Stockpile.
