Sydney Covid updates: Doctor warns of ‘Covid orphans’ in Delta spread

Parents hospitalised with the virus have left their children ‘Covid orphans’ with nobody to care for them due to the rapid spread of Delta, a doctor has said.

A Sydney doctor has warned of a distressing reality for some families hospitalised with Covid-19, – leaving their kids “Covid orphans” with nobody to care for them.

Dr Lucy Morgan, an associate professor at Sydney University and a respiratory physician at Nepean and Concord hospitals, has warned of the harrowing situation after seeing it first hand.

The medical professional, who has been working on the frontline since the pandemic began, took to social media with the tragic story.

“My Covid wards are completely full today – full of young tradies, of pharmacy staff, of wives and mothers and fathers of young children,” she posted.

“Every one has a story of family distress- several have their partners in other hospitals leaving their small children to be ‘Covid orphans’ in the children’s hospital because their grandparents are unvaccinated or sick themselves.”

NSW’s chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant has repeatedly flagged entire families are becoming infected with the virus, due to the high transmissibility of the Delta strain.

“Clearly the picture with Delta is that once it’s introduced to a household, it’s inevitable that everyone gets the Delta strain,” she told a parliamentary hearing on Monday.

In an earlier post, Dr Morgan said all hospitals were “filling up fast” with Covid-19 positive patients.

She said they were all unvaccinated and felt “frightened”, “sick” and “very lonely” because they could not have any visitors.

“So many families (are) affected and stressed and fearful and not allowed to visit.

“Being vaccinated will reduce your chance of ending up in hospital and free up some safe space for us to treat lung cancer, deliver babies, manage strokes and heart failure and confusion and falls and all the other things that happen to our families every day.”

Dr Morgan also pleaded with Australians to get vaccinated.

And her experiences were not a one-off.

Children’s Hospital at Westmead nurse Hannah Niccol also took to social media to share her experiences with “unaccompanied” children whose parents were also hospitalised.

“This leaves nurses to not only attend to all clinical needs but trying to support these children emotionally in a very frightening time for them,” she posted.

“Seeing the effects of young children separated from parents has left staff feeling pretty miserable and on top of that the anxiety and stress of working with Covid positive patients each day takes a toll on us all.”

The outbreak in NSW continues to grow, with the state recording 818 new locally acquired cases and three deaths on Monday.

Read related topics:Sydney

Leave a Comment