Wary optimism as Paphos hospital staff tests begin to come back negative

The Paphos General Hospital, where 12 had been infected with coronavirus, remained shut on Wednesday as samples continued to be taken from some 680 hospital staff to be sent for testing.

The 12 confirmed cases involve 10 hospital staff, including one ICU doctor, eight ICU nurses, and one cleaner, and two elderly patients aged 65 and 70.

The first confirmed case was the 65-year-old UK national that was hospitalized at the Paphos General ICU, and who appears to have then infected 11 others.

The 70-year-old patient, that caught the virus while being treated at the Paphos General ICU, was transferred on Tuesday afternoon to the Famagusta General Hospital which has been designated as the hospital to deal exclusively with COVID-19 cases.

With just the Accident and Emergency Department and the Hemodialysis Unit remaining operational in the Paphos General, samples continued to be taken from hospital staff who may have also been infected with the virus.

A sum of 150 samples were taken on Monday and 120 on Tuesday, with sampling expected to continue all through Wednesday until all hospital staff, estimated at around 680 workers, are tested.

Wary optimism after results so far come back negative

As results from the samples taken from the Paphos General Hospital staff began coming in on Tuesday, with all showing negative results, a cautious optimism began to emerge that the virus had not spread further through the hospital workers.

Though three more had tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, raising the total in the Republic of Cyprus to 49, none were from samples taken from the Paphos General.

The disinfection of the Paphos hospital continued on Wednesday, with all patients in the pathological unit and the ICU placed in isolation.