Three weeks since coronavirus related death in Norfolk’s largest hospital
Images of the negative pressure isolation ward at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. Picture: ModuleCo - Credit: Archant
It has been three weeks since Norfolk’s largest hospital has reported a coronavirus-related death.
At the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH), the last recorded death was on June 8, but its chief executive says he is not complacent while the virus is still circulating.
Currently there is only one patient with a positive coronavirus result receiving treatment and a further 15 people who are recovering in hospital after contracting the virus. There are currently no patients in intensive care.
Sam Higginson, NNUH chief executive, said: “This pandemic has shown that our emergency preparedness has been robust and our teams have approached the challenges with togetherness and positivity.
“We are not complacent while the virus is still circulating and we are well prepared if we need to rezone the hospital to create more Covid-19 treatment areas.
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“We’d like to thank the people of Norfolk and Waveney for their support and would urge them to continue to follow the guidelines around social distancing and strict hand hygiene practices to limit the spread of coronavirus.”
New photos have also been shared of the work on the isolation ward currently being built on site.
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The NNUH has been chosen as one of eight surge centres in the UK, and will act as the centre for the region.
A hospital spokesman said: “That means we must have the capacity, technology and expertise to treat very sick Covid-19 patients during the pandemic.
“We will be creating our surge centre capacity within our existing estate: we have a high dependency unit in our new ward block and our highly-specialised isolation unit is progressing at pace.
“We are carrying out a number of listening events to find out about staff experiences during the peak of the pandemic so we can adapt our service to the benefit of patients and staff alike.”
As June draws to a close, the number of recorded virus deaths fell to seven across all three of the county’s main hospitals.
At its peak in April there were 256 confirmed deaths and 114 in May.
Like the NNUH, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in King’s Lynn, is also set to have recorded no new deaths in three weeks, reporting its last virus-related fatality on June 9.
At the James Paget University Hospital, in Gorleston, it has been 12 days since the last reported death on June 18.