12 Employees, four doctors from a Pretoria private hospital in self-isolation
The Life Eugene Marais hospital is currently treating a single Covid-19 patient at one of its dedicated ICUs.
Twelve employees and four doctors from the Life Eugene Marais hospital in Pretoria are currently at home in self-isolation after being exposed to a Covid-19 patient.
The patient is currently being treated in the hospital’s single dedicated Covid-19 ICU.
The hospital’s national Covid-19 task team is continuously assessing the situation, according to Dr Charl van Loggerenberg, Life Healthcare emergency medicine general manager.
“The employees and doctors are being managed in terms of the guidelines from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) on healthcare workers who have been exposed to Covid-19 patients,” Van Loggerenberg said.
“Life Healthcare is frequently consulting with government, our doctors, employees and healthcare workers to ensure that our protocols and processes remain relevant for the needs of our patients.”
Van Loggerenberg said, as with all hospitals across the country, the risk of exposure to hospital employees and doctors means stringent infection prevention and control safety measures have to be implemented.
“Employees and doctors are screened when they first enter the hospital building for the day and again when they leave at the end of the day.
“All employees and doctors are required to report potential exposure or symptoms to hospital management as a matter of urgency so that necessary steps and precautions can be implemented.”
He did not confirm whether the employees and doctors in self-isolation were indeed showing symptoms.
“We can categorically confirm that none of the Life Eugene Marais hospital ICUs have been closed down.
“The hospital currently has a dedicated COVID-19 ICU which has one patient admitted to this unit.
“The remaining two ICUs in the hospital are being utilised as surgical ICUs or for other patients who are critically ill but not COVID-19 positive.
“We want to assure the local community that we continue to ensure patients receive the highest standard of quality care. Patients requiring intensive care or high care treatment will be accommodated in the relevant intensive care units available in the hospital.”
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