No new Covid-19 cases at Weston hospital following coronavirus outbreak
Coronavirus re-testing has found no new cases at Weston General Hospital. Picture: Mark Atherton - Credit: Archant
No new cases of Covid-19 have been identified at Weston General Hospital, prompting hope that measures to contain the outbreak are working.
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW), which runs the hospital, closed the building to new patients on My 25 after a high number of staff and patients tested positive for the virus.
In a statement last night (Friday, May 29), the trust said follow up testing in in-patients at the hospital had shown no new cases.
Testing of most of the 1,700 staff indicated around six per cent were asymptomatic and infected.
The trust said the tests were an early indication that its measures to keep everyone safe and to get the hospital ready to reopen as soon as possible were working.
All in-patients and staff will be re-tested for coronavirus again in the coming week.
Those staff who tested positive have self-isolated and the trust said every single staff member should have been tested by the end of Saturday.
The hospital was closed to all new patients, including those in A and E, as a ‘precautionary measure’ due to the high number of patients in the hospital with coronavirus.
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Speaking yesterday, trust medical director Dr William Oldfield said the signs from the recent testing were encouraging.
He said: “The results from our inpatient testing have identified no new cases of COVID-19, which suggests the actions we have taken to control the situation are working.
“We will re-test all our inpatients again next week, and if the results continue to show no new cases, this would indicate no in-hospital transmission of the infection.
“We will also repeat testing of all staff at the hospital again next week. The results from this will indicate whether the staff working in the hospital are remaining free of infection.
“We are continuing to safely discharge patients as appropriate when they no longer need our care, and as patients are discharged areas are being deep cleaned to get the hospital ready to re-open.
“We greatly appreciate the support and efforts of all our staff, who are working incredibly hard in difficult circumstances. Their commitment and dedication to our patients and each other is a credit to them all.”
The trust said arrangements remain in place for new patients to continue to have access to treatment and care in other centres in the area should they need it.
