COVID and Flu Vaccinations

COVID-19 is a new, or novel, strain of virus in the coronavirus family that has not been previously identified. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

COVID-19 was discovered in 2019 when a higher than normal number of people in Wuhan, China, started to get pneumonia after having an illness similar to the flu. When doctors tested them, they found these people had a type of coronavirus they hadn’t seen before.

There were already lots of types of coronavirus in the world, but this one was new. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, which means it affects the parts of your body you use to breathe: your nose, throat and lungs. If you’re sick with COVID-19, your symptoms might include: fever, a cough, sore throat, fatigue or shortness of breath.

COVID-19 spreads between people, usually when a sick person coughs or sneezes.

These droplets can enter your body through the mucous membranes (wet parts) of your face – your eyes, nose and mouth – which provide a direct pathway to your throat and lungs. The good news is that it can’t get in through other parts of your body like your skin or your hair, but you might be surprised just how easily it can get to the mucous membranes of your face.

First of all, the droplets from someone’s cough or sneeze might fall directly into your eyes, nose or mouth if you’re close enough to the infected person, letting the virus enter your system straight away. Or, the droplets might fall onto a surface where you then put your hands.

If you don’t wash your hands, you could move the virus into your eyes, nose or mouth and become infected. The infected person might also get the droplets on their hands if they cough or sneeze into them, and then place them on a surface, where you pick them up. Direct membrane-to-membrane contact can also spread the virus. This could happen by kissing. The virus can also be spread by sharing items that go in your mouth, eyes or nose, like cutlery, cups, straws, water bottles or cosmetics.

Can COVID-19 spread through the air?

So far, studies show that people are mainly catching COVID-19 through these droplets, rather than the virus hanging out in the air. This is good news, because it means if an infected person is in a room, breathes for a while, then leaves the room, the virus isn’t lurking in the air waiting for the next person to come in. If with further study we find out this information has changed, we’ll let you know.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding Coronairus (COVID-19) it is best to contact: 

13 HEALTH
13 HEALTH is a confidential phone service that provides health advice to Queenslanders. You can phone and talk to a registered nurse 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the cost of a local call.

Ph: 13HEALTH (13 43 25 84)

Coronavirus Health Information Line

Primary Care – Central Patient COVID-19 Triage
Hotline –1800 020 080
The national 24/7 hotline will be expanded to help triage people with respiratory symptoms and
those who are concerned about contact with a possible COVID-19 case.
Alternatively, potential COVID-19 patients can present in person to a GP clinic, a dedicated
respiratory clinic or to a hospital ED if they call ahead.

Why is this important?
People who would otherwise present at hospital emergency departments or GP clinics – and risk spreading
COVID-19 – can also be given advice over the phone by trained health professionals.
Depending on their circumstances, people will be advised to attend a public hospital respiratory clinic, a primary
care respiratory clinic, to self isolate at home, to seek a medical practitioner telehealth consultation or to take no
further action. This will help reduce the risk of transmission and conserve Personal Protective Equipment.
The hotline will also provide facilities to support telehealth consultations – where providers or patients may not
have access to the appropriate ICT – and maintain a comprehensive national directory of available health
services.
This hotline is essential to the effective implementation of the MBS Telehealth measures, the primary care
respiratory clinics and existing private patient-GP call arrangements.
To provide a single central, national port of call, the existing healthdirect information line services will be
increased to a 24/7 triaging service staffed by qualified health professionals.

Who benefits?
All Australians will have access to a single, trusted point of information and triage for COVID-19. The hotline will
‘stream’ suspected COVID-19 patients and assist with containment and spread of infection.