About 130 samples were taken from doctors, nurses and patients at Larnaca General Hospital’s pathology clinic, after an elderly patient tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday evening and was transferred to Famagusta General Hospital which operates as the referral hospital for coronavirus.
The pathology clinic where the 75 year-old was an in-patient was shut down, while the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) operates partially, not admitting any patients, while all emergencies are directed to the private sector and the A&E in Nicosia General Hospital.
Executive General Manager of Larnaka and Famagusta hospitals Giorgos Karotsakis told CNA that the “elderly patient was admitted suffering from a mild stroke and during his hospitalization he developed coronavirus symptoms.”
The patient who shared a room with him was put into isolation since his tests came back negative, while the confirmed coronavirus case was transported to Famagusta General Hospital yesterday evening.
Tracking down doctors and nursing staff who came into contact with the confirmed case as well as other patients hospitalised in the pathology clinic started immediately, Karotsakis said, adding that so far about 130 samples have been sent for testing at the Institute of Neurology and Genetics of Cyprus.
Everyone’s goal, he noted, “is taking the necessary decisions which have to do with the smooth operation of the hospital.”
He also pointed out that a special area which has been established for some time now to receive suspect coronavirus cases and is isolated, will begin its operation once the hospital is cleared.
Replying to a question, he said that four pathologists from the private sector will begin work on Wednesday at the hospital following a relevant decree of the Minister of Health.
A meeting of the task force will take place on Wednesday morning, he said, adding that results from the tests are expected to be received throughout the evening and that during the meeting the steps to the benefit of staff, patients and the hospital’s operation will be decided.
In the meantime, one of the two people whose deaths from the coronavirus were announced earlier yesterday, was the first confirmed case diagnosed at Paphos General Hospital, where he had been hospitalised.
None of the eight new confirmed cases is connected to Paphos General Hospital.
Four nurses were transferred to Paphos General Hospital from Nicosia General Hospital and started work. All nursing staff who worked at the dialysis unit where a nurse tested positive to the virus have been placed in quarantine.
(Cyprus News Agency)
