THE Queensland government is to use a newly expanded bulk storage site at Inala in Brisbane’s west to house millions of units of personal protective equipment.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the major expansion was about future proofing Queensland’s PPE supplies against COVID-19 and any other threat.
“The pandemic put pressure on stocks worldwide, but Queensland has managed exceptionally well,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“Now we will go further, to ensure Queensland always has enough PPE supplies, so our health workforce is protected no matter what happens next.
“Having this expanded site at Inala ensures we will have space and continue to have enough critical supplies of PPE for our healthcare workers who play an essential role in keeping Queensland communities safe.”
The storage site will feed into the state’s distributions centres, where collectively it has in excess of 100 days of supply of key PPE items – including more than 900 days of surgical masks, more than 200 days of medical gowns, and close to 300 days of gloves.
“We initially set up the storage site early in the pandemic at Inala as an overflow facility in response to the growing demand for PPE, and it’s now being expanded by 50%, per cent,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“The original site is currently holding approximately 120m pieces of PPE across 9,500 pallet spaces, including those all-important items such as surgical masks, gloves and protective eyewear.
“From early September the facility will span 15,500 square metres – adding an extra 4,500 pallet spaces – and based on current stock, we expect to be able to increase storage to around 180 million pieces of PPE.”
