Staff members and patients at Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital have tested positive for COVID-19, News24 reports the Western Cape Health has confirmed. But it refuses to divulge how many cases had been reported there, claiming this was "in order to uphold both patient and staff confidentiality".
Department spokesperson Natalie Watlington said she could "confirm that staff members and patients confirmed positive for COVID-19" at the government facility and that the affected areas in the hospital had been closed temporarily for decontamination. "As the pattern of the spread of coronavirus develops, it is clear that new clusters of infections are concentrated in the places where people congregate such as essential services," Watlington said.
"Health facilities are also places where gatherings occur and, over the last few days, we have found positive cases of staff at various health facilities across the province." These included the District Six, Du Noon, Matthew Goniwe and Retreat community health centres.
The report quotes the department as saying that 239 health workers in the private and public sector had tested positive for the coronavirus by Thursday of last week. Two nurses and a porter had died, while 157 health workers had recovered.
[link url="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/covid-19-staff-patients-test-positive-at-valkenberg-psychiatric-hospital-some-areas-closed-20200515"]Full News24 report[/link]