Hospital Staff at the Virgin de las Nieves in Granada are working flat out to prevent the virus spreading to other floors and infecting more personnel.
The 9th floor, which houses Internal Medicine (dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of internal diseases) and Dermatology, had been virus free until now but since the outbreak there, cases have steadily climbed.
Originally, although there was a second, smaller outbreak on another floor, it was the ninth that was causing the biggest headache for management. However, since the outbreak was first discovered, infections are now affecting four other floors, where staff, patients and their visiting relatives are giving positive readings.
At the moment there are 43 people infected: 18 workers, one visiting relative and 24 patients, which amounts to about 50% of the staff and patients on the 9th floor, which has a capacity of 60 beds.
But it is not so much those that were found to be infected, but also those that were tested and are waiting for their results, but still have to undergo quarantine in the meantime – all told some 80 hospital staff, including doctors, nurses, porters, etc.
The hospital is now going to carry out a wide screening using PCRs on everybody on the four affected floors, which will no doubt push the figures up.
For the last five months the hospital has been carrying out around 500 PCRs every day but since this contagion was detected the number has increased by around 70 more a day.
Running the hospital since the pandemic began has been complicated because the normal day-to-day services have to be maintained alongside those concerning coronavirus, but with depleted personnel numbers owing to infections amongst their own ranks. Originally the Junta was going to hire another 40 staff but with this present situation, it will be increased to 50 personnel.
In the meantime, the hospital will reduce to a minimum non-essential operations – Oncological ones and emergency interventions will not be affected.
They will also bring in a long-overdue change concerning visiting relatives whose presence will now be more restricted.
As for the origin of contagion, the Minister of Health for the Junta, Jesús Aguirre, is still running with the retirement party for one of the nurses and suggested the fewer parties the better.
(News: Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)