TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — New Taipei's Sijhih Cathay General Hospital on Thursday (May 20) confirmed that an emergency room doctor in the hospital has tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the hospital to suspend operations.
On Thursday, the hospital issued a statement in which it wrote that an emergency room doctor started to experience mild discomfort, including a dry cough and mild fever on Wednesday (May 19). That day, he underwent a PCR test, which came back positive for COVID-19.
Based on a preliminary investigation, the doctor was found to have come in contact with a confirmed case, reported TVBS. However, the case was detected in another hospital.
After the doctor was found to be positive for the virus, an investigation of his movements in the facility was carried out. As a precaution, the emergency room temporarily halted services starting at 9 p.m. on Wednesday evening and patients will not be allowed to return after they leave.
Currently, emergency medical staff, employees who entered the area on May 14 or later, and patients under his care have been listed as contacts and are being tested for the coronavirus. Extensive cleaning and disinfection were immediately carried out in the emergency room.
Arrangments have been made to place the contacts in quarantine facilities as they await the results of the tests. As of 9:50 a.m. on Thursday, 89 contacts have tested negative for the virus, thus far.
