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A Southampton hospital worker has tested positive for coronavirus

They are now isolating at home


A member of staff at University Hospital Southampton has tested positive for coronavirus.

The healthcare worker worked one nightshift in the hospital’s surgical high dependency unit last Friday, The Daily Echo reports. The worker is now in isolation at home.

Precautions have been taken, with the surgical high dependency unit no longer taking new admissions. Members of staff and patients who have come into close contact with the hospital worker have been informed of the diagnosis and will be isolated if needed.

The hospital has told patients to come still attend their appointments normally, unless advised not to.

In a statement released online, the hospital said: “A healthcare professional who worked a single nightshift in our surgical high dependency unit on Friday, 6 March has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). They are now isolated at home.

“The small number of patients and staff who came into close contact with this individual have been informed and will be appropriately isolated. The surgical high dependency unit is temporarily closed to new admissions. Any patient affected by the temporary closure will be contacted directly.

“The Trust is following Public Health England and NHS guidance in respect of the virus and all other services are operating normally.”

The news comes as over the weekend a student from a college in Winchester was also put into self-isolation at home, after being diagnosed with coronavirus.

Bosses at the college were told by Public Health England that one of their students had been diagnosed with the virus, The Daily Echo reports.

The college is currently giving guidance to those who have had close contact with the student, but in an email to students’ parents say they are “assured there is no need for the college to close”.

For more information on coronavirus, visit the NHS website.

Stock featured image via SWNS

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