QEH working to ensure staff and patient safety

In our continuing efforts to keep the public informed on matters related to COVID-19 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, we wish to advise  the general public that on Friday, April 16, a member of the Hospital’s security team tested positive for COVID-19.

A contact tracing exercise was immediately undertaken which revealed a link between this staff member and a community case associated with a church in the north of the island.

To protect staff and patients, the QEH has followed all protocols with regard to the quarantine and testing of other security personnel with whom the affected individual was in contact.

As in the case of previous positive staff members, deep cleaning was conducted of the work areas. In that regard, the security office and communal spaces, such as the Security Department, lunch and restrooms, have already undergone this deep cleaning.

Arising out of this incident, phased COVID-19 PCR testing was started at the QEH on Saturday, April 17. To date, a total of 85 persons have been tested, from which there have been 10 positive results.

Furthermore, since Sunday, April 18th 2021, all 85 security personnel along with the associated the housekeeping staff member assigned to the Security Department have been placed in quarantine.

These individuals will be retested on Thursday, April 22. They will be allowed to leave quarantine and return to work when they obtain two consecutive negative COVID-19 PCR test results. All security staff who have officially been cleared for work will resume duty on Saturday, April 24.

These officers will be required to undergo refresher training with the hospital’s Infection Prevention and Control Department led by Dr. Corey Forde. The session will cover the necessity of mask wearing, how to wear masks correctly, physical distancing, protocols for reporting suspected illness, and how to minimise the risk of COVID-19 infection at work, during carpooling and in the community.

Additional steps to sensitize staff to best practices at home, lunch rooms and in social spaces will also be taken. In the interim, A & C Security Services Ltd. have dispatched new staff to ensure continued security coverage to the QEH.

The QEH is making every effort to keep its staff fully trained and equipped to protect themselves and our patients and to remain safe as new waves of the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the world.(BGIS)