Hospital shuts down after 22 staff infected

By ROSELYN ELLISON
ST MARY’S Vunapope Hospital in Kokopo, East New Britain, yesterday shut down operations for seven days after 22 workers at the hospital tested positive for the Covid-19.
Archbishop of Rabaul Catholic diocese and head of Catholic church health service Rochus Josef Tatamai told The National that the seven-day lockdown would include the hospital’s outpatient and emergency departments.
Archbishop Rochus said the lockdown was effective as of yesterday and would be reviewed next week with the possibility of being extended.
He said the hospital administration would implement stricter measures to contain and mitigate the transmission of the Covid-19 at the hospital.
He said the lockdown was sanctioned by the ENB Covid-19 incident manager Dr Alex Maha who visited the hospital yesterday to assess the situation.
Archbishop Rochus said since the first case turned up in the province last year, there had not been many cases recorded and then with more testing capability the hospital had confirmed that 22 of its staff had the virus over the last three weeks.
The hospital has a total of 153 staff.
The staff affected were from different departments including: three medical officers, an anaesthetic officer, a X-ray technician, two midwives, 11 nurses, a pathology staffer, a maintenance worker, an ancillary staffer, and a revenue clerk.