A NSW health care worker says COVID-positive children who are separated from their parents are frightened and overwhelmed as the state records its highest day of hospitalisations in a 24 hour period.
A nurse at Sydney's Westmead Children's Hospital has shared her difficult experience caring for infected paediatric patients amid the worsening Delta outbreak in NSW.
The nurse, whom the ABC has chosen not to name, said children were distressed about being in a foreign environment without anyone they know and staff were significantly affected by the challenging situation.
"[The] nurses not only attend to all clinical needs but try to support these children emotionally in a very frightening time for them," she said.
"Seeing the effects of such 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 every day takes a toll on us all."
The nurse at said the short-stay ward had now become a children's COVID-19 ward and she made a plea for members of the public to send in letters or pictures to brighten the mood on the ward.
"Anything at all would be so very appreciated to lift our spirits," she said.
The children on this COVID ward have to be admitted because their parents are too sick to care for them but most children with COVID-19 are treated at home, according to the Sydney Children's Hospital Network (SCHN).
Currently more than 700 children who are COVID-19 positive are being cared for in the community through a 24/7 virtual health service, a spokesperson for the network said.
Australian Psychological Society president Tamara Cavenett said children in COVID wards would likely experience some level of anxiety as they don't have the comfort or touch of their parents and might be confused about why they are alone.
"Anxiety is certainly something we would be expecting them to display," she said.
"It would be very important that these children receive reassurance and age-appropriate information so they have a good story that is to their level of understanding about what is happening and why.
"We know that when children are missing information or don't quite understand, they often fill that blank with a negative."
SCHN told the ABC the children have daily access to schooling, social work, mental health support and music therapy sessions while in hospital and also have 24/7 access to devices to contact their family.
Ms Cavenett, who is a clinical psychologist, said innovative ideas would also be key in comforting children — like health staff video-calling children from another room so the child can see them without their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
But she said it wouldn't be surprising if children in these situations later have some separation anxiety.
Infectious disease experts say the Delta strain of COVID-19 is infecting more children than the Alpha variant, but it remains rare for children to develop serious complications.
The number of COVID-19 patients in NSW hospitals is climbing, with a total of 447 currently admitted.
On Tuesday, there was an increase of 56 patients — the largest increase since the outbreak started in June.
Those aged between 30 and 50 represent the most common age of those hospitalised, with 158 being cared for up to July 31.
Twenty-five children under the age of 17 have been hospitalised up to July 31, though case numbers have more than doubled since then.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the health system was under pressure as a result of staff needing to isolate after any potential exposure to the virus.
"I ask the community to be tolerant and understand that your nurses and your doctors and your physiotherapists and everybody else in the health system are working very hard for you," he said.
"We're in a pandemic and people will have to be taken offline [due to potential exposure] but overall the health system is still extraordinarily good."
NSW has already been in lockdown for eight weeks but the Premier has warned September and October will be the most difficult for the state.
