27 Mandeville hospital staff test positive for COVID

The COVID crisis in Manchester is worsening with 27 employees of the theatre and high dependency unit at the Mandeville Regional Hospital now positive with the virus.

This has led to a shutdown of elective surgical operations, Senior Medical Officer Dr Everton McIntosh has confirmed.

According to McIntosh, only emergency operations are being performed.

McIntosh, speaking on RJR’s Beyond the Headlines, said the 27 COVID positive employees of the theatre and high dependency unit represent 30 per cent of the full complement.

The parish of Manchester is the new COVID hotspot.

It has been seeing weeks of double-digit increases and on Monday recorded its highest one-day total of 81 cases.

At present, the COVID ward at the Mandeville Regional Hospital is at maximum capacity.

McIntosh told RJR’s Dionne Jackson Miller that the authorities are now “repurposing” another ward to accommodate an additional 16 COVID patients requiring hospitalisation.

In the meantime, a worried staffer has complained that the operating theatre is not being frequently cleaned and sanitised.

But McIntosh has rebuffed that complaint although he could not immediately detail the cleaning schedule.

"The theatre is cleaned on a regular basis," he said. "It is something I have seen myself."

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.