Mediclinic Newcastle sees an increase in Covid-19 admissions

Hospital begins random testing of healthcare workers as number of Covid-19 admissions climb.

In the past week, Mediclinic Newcastle has seen an increase in the number of confirmed Covid-19 patients admitted to the hospital, confirmed general manager, Japie Greyling.

Altogether, 23 Covid-19 positive patients were admitted to Mediclinic since the start of the pandemic. At the time of publishing this article, there were nine patients admitted to the hospital’s Covid-19 ward and one patient admitted in the Critical Care Unit.

“Fortunately, no patient has passed away due to Covid-19. Fourteen patients have been discharged from the hospital and we are thrilled that some are still recovering at home, while others are fully recovered,” said Mr Greyling.

Mr Greyling further pointed out that there have been no hospital acquired cases of Covid-19 at Mediclinic Newcastle.

“This means that patients and staff have not been infected with the virus from other positive patients,” he explained. “This is due to the compliance of staff to strict IPC (Infection, Prevention and Control) guidelines for PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) usage, social distancing and terminal cleaning.”

Last week, the hospital performed Covid-19 testing on 30 randomly selected healthcare workers, who all tested negative for the virus.

“We intend to repeat these random tests on a regular basis,” concluded Mr Greyling.

Source: https://northernnatalnews.co.za/243697/mediclinic-newcastle-sees-an-increase-in-covid-19-admissions