The goal is to make Paphos general hospital fully operational as soon as possible but only once this is feasible, the facility’s interim administrator said on Tuesday, responding to a group of doctors who are calling for a partial and gradual reopening of the hospital and with enhanced testing for all staff.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Dr Iosif Moutiris said the Paphos hospital suspended operations in mid-March when, due to a cluster of coronavirus cases detected, more than half of the people working there – including doctors, nurses and support staff – were ordered to stay at home for an indeterminate amount of time.
At the moment, Moutiris said, the facility is operating two new temporary wings, specifically a nursing station and a screening clinic for patients that present Covid-19 symptoms but who haven’t been tested yet.
“In this way, we are providing effective management on suspect cases,” he added.
He was responding to a letter co-signed by several doctors of Paphos hospital and addressed to the state Health Services Organisation (Okypy).
In it, the physicians asked why the hospital has remained shuttered for a month, adding that they were anxious to rejoin the fight against Covid-19.
“We are now coming into the fifth week [of closure] and no one has a clue what’s next,” the doctors said.
They pointed out that to date all state hospitals and most private hospitals have had staff infected with the coronavirus, and at any rate will likely continue to register such cases.
In other facilities, once a case is detected the affected areas or units are temporarily closed down, disinfected, contact tracing is carried out, and one or two days later these units are back in business.
Why was the same not happening in Paphos, the doctors asked.
They went on to propose the immediate operation of outpatient care, as well as allowing the admission and treatment of emergencies where deemed safe, and the resumption of all urgent surgeries.
During the first few days, they suggested, the hospital could work with fewer beds, using four-bed rooms to treat up to two patients, and two-bed rooms for a single patient.
They also called on the hospital’s management and the health ministry to make arrangements for conducting regular Covid-19 tests on all inpatients as well as on all staff.
Meantime the manager of the Paphos hospital was on Monday admitted to Limassol general hospital after he displayed coronavirus symptoms. He has since tested positive for Covid-19.
The manager had previously been in self-isolation for 15 days and, after testing negative for Covid-19 twice during this time, had returned to his duties on April 6.
Two days later, on April 8, he had taken part in a meeting at the hospital. Following his testing positive this Monday, all those who participated in that meeting were being tested on Tuesday.
