BATHURST had its first confirmed coronavirus case on March 19, when health authorities revealed a man in his 30s was at home in self-isolation.
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Another COVID-19 case was also confirmed in Orange, another male also in his 30s.
The two new infections took the total number of cases in the Western NSW Local Health District to five after three other Orange cases were previously diagnosed.
The Orange man was a contact of a confirmed case and, on commencement of symptoms, was isolated immediately.
"WNSWLHD Public Health Unit has contacted all close contacts of the two new cases and advised them to self-isolate for 14 days from when they were last with the confirmed case," the spokeswoman said.
ROCKLEY man John O'Brien struck a chord across the region saying he just wants to die with dignity - and with his red cattle dog Bonza. But he said he would struggle to achieve even that modest ambition as he faces months of radiation treatment for high level prostate cancer.
Mr O'Brien was living in a fitted-out caravan at Molong Showground to be close to his treatment at Orange and was, he said, in a bad way.
"I've spent $25,000 since I've been sick - from petrol to medications to doctors to urology to going to Sydney to going to Canberra," he said.
"I had $25,000 in savings and it's gone. And a lot of our medication is not on the PBS [Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme]."
A WOMAN aged in her late 70s with flu-like symptoms was transported to Bathurst Hospital for coronavirus testing on March 12, as the first hints of COVID-19 reached the Bathurst region.
Coronavirus testing had also been conducted on other people in the Central West, however, there had been no confirmed cases at that stage, a Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) spokeswoman told the Western Advocate.
NSW Ambulance Inspector Kathy Golledge said a 77-year-old woman was transported to Bathurst Hospital with flu-like symptoms and paramedics "take precautions regardless".
"Because she's got symptoms we treat for the worst and hope for the best," she said.
Inspector Golledge said it was important for the public to remember that while there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region, that people should listen to advice from NSW Health.
"The flu is going around and people need to take precautions and self-isolate," she said.
A NEW positive case of COVID-19 on March 27 was a doctor who had been working at Bathurst Base Hospital.
Western NSW Local Health District confirmed that the staff member had also performed work at Dubbo Hospital but was not considered to be infectious at that time.
Staff at Bathurst Hospital who are considered to have been in close contact with the doctor have been asked to self-quarantine and will receive daily wellness checks.
Staff and patients who were considered to be at risk were being contacted by the public health team.
The latest case took the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Bathurst local government area to seven, with a total of 27 across the Western NSW Local Health District.
ALSO MAKING NEWS IN MARCH:
- Bathurst was finally included on the state government's critical needs list for water project funding.
- Figures showed Bathurst households had halved their water usage over the previous 12 months.
- Bathurst region farmers welcomed good falls of rain.
- There were new calls for a fence to be built around the Bathurst adventure playground.
BATHURST region health professionals penned an open letter to the people of Bathurst urging them to take sensible measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
"Your actions will impact us all. Our region has a disproportionately high number of confirmed cases for our population size with further cases expected to be confirmed over the coming days," the letter said.
"In some ways, the Bathurst Health System is disadvantaged by its limited resources compared to bigger tertiary centres.
"In many ways we are privileged because we are small enough to allow for a coordinated response across the various healthcare services in the region.
"Collaboration between GPs, hospital doctors, Community Health, Residential Aged Care Facilities and the Ambulance Service has been underway with teams working around the clock to develop pathways to manage the anticipated increased demand on our health service."
