GEORGE TOWN – A nursing home that saw two residents, aged 81 and 106, passing away after having contracted Covid-19 has refuted claims made that it has not managed the outbreak responsibly.
Its management said that the claim that the caregivers were not isolated after they caught the virus is baseless and untrue.
“The centre isolated all suspected cases while awaiting instructions from the Health Ministry,” it said in a statement.
Of the 41 registered with the facility, 31 have been warded at Penang Hospital after testing positive while the others tested negative.
The management also urged their detractors to check the facts with the health authorities.
“We informed the health authorities about the positive RTK test results within 10 minutes of the results. We gave 100% cooperation and responded quickly with every single request and every piece of information required.
“The nurses immediately prepared a medication list and background of the patients’ medical condition, reporting any symptoms of each patient,” it said.
“By the time the health officials arrived at the care centre, the nurse team had all this information printed out and ready for each patient to be handed over as the patients needed to be admitted.”
The health, safety, and welfare of the patients is the number one priority at the centre, the management stressed.
“Understanding the situation and risks, our response to protect the patients was instantaneous and exhaustive. Immediately after the first RTK test results were positive, we proceeded to test all the patients in the building, as well as the staff on and off duty.
“Each suspected positive person (patients and staff alike) was immediately shifted to the ground floor for isolation away from those tested negative while we waited for further instructions.
“The ground floor was sealed and closed off. Nobody was allowed to go in or out of this sealed area until a PCR test was to be conducted by the authorities.”
The management also began disinfection procedures for the entire building.
The claim that two nurses were the first to be infected is also untrue, the management added.
The two nurses tested negative several days before they were infected and their positive PCR results were dated October 27, which was on the fifth day .
“You can fact-check this with MoH. Based on the PCR test results conducted by MoH for the entire occupants of the care centre (this includes all patients and staff), the CT value of the two nurses indicated they were not the first to get infected.
“We cannot release this document to you, but the information is with the health officials,” the management said.
The claim that the management condoned the situation and helped to spread the coronavirus is an irresponsible statement, not based on facts but based on mere assumptions and ill-informed personal opinions, the management concluded. – The Vibes, November 2, 2021
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