Push to rein in Bellevue COVID cluster

Health authorities have moved in to suppress a rash of coronavirus infections which have flared at the Bellevue Hospital in Kingston amid fears of a major upswing in cases into the new year.

Twenty-one patients and two staff have tested positive so far as the country’s tally of infections grew to 11,875, with deaths totalling 276.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie told journalists on Tuesday that she was satisfied with the responsiveness of the hospital administrators in trying to staunch the outbreak.

“We have looked at the areas that the patients are managed and we are very satisfied that the team here at Bellevue has responded adequately and appropriately, in terms of the isolation and quarantine of the patients,” Bisasor-McKenzie said.

The CMO added that the standard of clinical care being administered was also acceptable.

She advised that of the 21 patients, two had been transferred to another hospital but were recovering well and expected to return to Bellevue soon. Two staffers who tested positive among the 23 who worked the ward occupied by the infected patients are recovering at home.

The hospital has about 590 patients with a staff complement of a little over 600.

Senior medical officer (SMO) of health at the Kingston and St Andrew Health Department, Dr Susan Strachan Johnson, disclosed that once administrators were alerted to the symptomatic cases on the ward, they immediately isolated the infected patients.

Bisasor-McKenzie advised that with the country bracing for a spike in community transmission cases, Bellevue is again being proactive by refurbishing a 36-bed ward in anticipation of further spread.

“We have been trying to increase our capacity in terms of infrastructure and so our maintenance team has undertaken to refurbish this ward,” said the CMO.

“We are also putting together plans to prepare another ward area, so we can have adequate facilities to manage our COVID cases by the end of January.”

Acting SMO at Bellevue, Dr Bridget Okpiavebe, made it clear that her team would not let up on its vigilance against the deadly virus.