Three hospital patients test positive for covid

Tuesday 17 November 2020

Three people receiving treatment in Jersey's General Hospital have tested positive for covid-19, the Government has confirmed.

In a statement, a Health Department spokesperson said the trio were not in hospital due to the virus, but were being treated for other conditions.

They added: “The contact-tracing team have begun informing direct contacts who have visited the ward in question and as a precaution no further visitors will be permitted on to the relevant ward.

“The hospital continues to function as normal. Infection control measures have been implemented as a matter of course – managing covid is not a new scenario for the hospital.

“To protect the identity of the patients and respect the privacy of relatives and visitors, we will not be commenting further.”

Following the announcement, Deputy Jess Perchard has called for more clarity in order to reassure the public.

Pictured: Deputy Jess Perchard, who suffered a covid loss in her extended family this year, said "we should be doing everything we can to save lives and not just spout statistics."

"We need to know how in practice this ward is being isolated so that the most vulnerable patients and staff are protected," she said.

"How are we protecting them? What are we going to do that is new to ensure other patients and staff are protected? Which ward was it? This is relevant because we need to be able to assess whether the Government's response reflects the risk status of patients in that ward.

"How are we ensuring people due to come in for vital day-surgery and treatments will not be too scared to come?"

She continued: "We've have heard from the Government throughout this year that people needing medical attention were already not coming to appointments because of fears of catching covid. Now that we know there is covid-19 in the hospital, this fear is only going to escalate.

Pictured: Deputy Perchard raised concerns some islanders may be put off coming in for day surgery.

"Carrying on with the restrictions currently in place when there is an outbreak in a vulnerable zone isn't enough. We need to be told what emergency measures have been immediately put in place to prevent spread in the hospital.

"Being vulnerable to covid means that you are more likely to experience severe illness or death if you catch it. I think people are forgetting this fact when they fail to comply with the guidance.

"My extended family have experienced an unexpected covid loss this year and it is devastating. We should be doing everything we can to save lives and not just spout statistics."

According to the Government's latest statistical release, there are currently 163 individuals officially confirmed as having covid in Jersey.

The number of active cases in the Island is 163.
102 cases are symptomatic and 61 cases are asymptomatic. 1 is in hospital (identified through admissions screening).

Total Tests
165,011 negative tests (+2,598)
764 confirmed positive (+32)
578 confirmed recovered (+21)
52 pending

— Government of Jersey (@GovJersey) November 16, 2020

102 cases are symptomatic and 61 cases are asymptomatic.

Since Friday (13 November), 21 individuals have recovered and 32 new cases have been identified (three from inbound travel, two from admissions screening, 19 through contact tracing and eight while individuals were seeking healthcare).

Yesterday, the medic leading Jersey's response to the pandemic, Dr Ivan Muscat, confirmed that there were pockets of covid in the local community and that the number of cases of unknown source had sharply increased in recent weeks.

CLICK TO ENLARGE: Charts showing the way more unknown cases have been emerging on-island.

In the past month alone, around 30 have been recorded, compared to just five cases in October.