ICU patient COVID-19 positive at HCCI

| 24/03/2020 | 15 Comments
Cayman News Service
Health City Cayman Islands

(CNS): The latest two positive test results for COVID-19 from a second batch of samples sent by Health City Cayman Islands includes one patient who was on the ICU ward at the same time as ‘patient zero’ when he was believed to be suffering from cardiology problems alone. The other positive test came from a member of the ICU staff. But both the patient and staff member have been and remain in isolation until the hospital quarantine is lifted.

This means that four people have been infected among Health City staff and patients in connection to the patient who was the first person in Cayman to die after contracting COVID-19. The hospital has received results for 47 samples so far, with the other 43 having been confirmed as negative. Another 31 are outstanding, as the hospital has continued to submit samples from staff, their family members and patients as a precaution.

Several patients in ICU were tested, as some were treated there before ‘patient zero’ was known to be positive for COVID-19.

That patient was a 68-year-old cruise passenger, who was rushed to HCCI after two heart attacks but later developed symptoms of COVID-19. He was tested but died soon after from complications of the virus and his underlying health issues.

Most of the patients in ICU at the same time have already been tested and have returned negative results for COVID-19. All medical staff members, their family members, patients and other individuals considered to be at risk for infection were immediately quarantined and tested for the virus following the first positive test result.

HCCI Clinical Director Dr Binoy Chattuparambil said the hospital was disappointed that one of the ICU patients was positive. He noted that this patient is in quarantine, was treated in medical isolation and so far is doing well.

“In light of the two new positive results, we have had many patient enquiries as to the level of their potential exposure to the virus which causes COVID-19,” the doctor said, adding that containment measures have been implemented.

“We have acted responsibly in suppressing the spread of this virus from the initial cruise patient. We are a tertiary care facility that regularly performs at the highest of standards, as is supported by our accreditation by Joint Commission International (JCI). We have infection control experts on our team, and we have been supported, advised and praised in our actions to contain this virus by Public Health Cayman and Public Health England.”

Dr Chattuparambil noted that the hospital had taken the appropriate steps to contain the virus very early on, which is reflected in the low positive test numbers, given how contagious COVID-19 has proved to be.

Anyone who has had potentially infectious contact with a quarantined individual at Health City has already been notified and the Public Health Department has followed this up for evaluation and potential testing. Anyone who has not been contacted is not at risk.

The four individuals with COVID-19 positive results remain in quarantine and they will all have confirmatory clearance tests at the conclusion of the period. They will not be released from quarantine unless the test results are clear.

Dr Chattuparambil said the hospital was following the highest standards of infection control and had taken expert advice on the containment of COVID-19. But he warned that Health City was not the only potential source of COVID-19 in Cayman, as he urged everyone to take precautionary measures against the virus, including staying at home, regular hand washing and practicing good respiratory hygiene.


Share your vote!


How do you feel after reading this?
  • Fascinated
  • Happy
  • Sad
  • Angry
  • Bored
  • Afraid
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Tags: , , ,

Category: Health, Medical Health

Comments (15)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. johnny says:

    Big problem on island is young people and their passive aggressive behaviour! It is rude, it can become outright murder to give someone Covid19 purposely, and it just shows how stupidly angry and foolish young people are! I feel sorry that they are so filled with hatred and anger that they cannot even be decent toward people of all colours around them and if you are that angry, do something positive and constructive instead of shaming yourself!

    9
    4
  2. johnny says:

    They need to set up large outdoor tents for COVID patients. It is quarantined and probably better for,them! If they can do a tent with power for weddings they can do it for 20-30 beds.

    9
    5
  3. Anonymous says:

    This situation smells. I do not believe we were given the full information on this.

    We were told that the Italian passenger on the cruise needed to disembark in Cayman in order to be airlifted to the US. Accompanying him were to COVID-19 samples to be airlifted for testing. On route to the airport the patient suffered two cardiac events and had to be rerouted to Health City. That is my understanding from the reporting at the time.

    I have no issues with Cayman allowing the patient to disembark. We had to, it was the only human thing to do.

    What I fail to understand is how knowing the circumstances did Health City allow themselves and their patients to be so devastatingly compromised! Particularly in relation to the other patient in the hospital that we now know was infected as well.

    I am sorry there needs to be a comprehensive inquiry into how this happened and Health City’s license should be called into question.

    19
    6
    • Anonymous says:

      Let’s not forget that we were initially told the patient came off a ship on March 2nd which did not disembark passengers yet it comes to light that he was on a ship which docked in Spotts on February 29th.

      20
      2
      • Anonymous says:

        Or that the second passenger – who they stayed silent on after the first press release – turned out not to have gone to the airport either but been taken to Health City. Wonder why the government is being so quiet on the identity of the latest 2 people with the virus who had “travel history”. Any bets on whether they entered the country since Thursday? Any remote chance that the news around infections is being managed to avoid criticism of governments decisions? Now we see the knee jerk reaction – confine everyone to their home 24 hrs a day until the incubation period for those flying in last week end is complete. Says ts because the private sector asked for exemptions to a business lock down – yeah right. Why not just say no to the requests. Next up it will be the private sectors fault those 2000 cruisers cam ashore, or we kept letting people on from the UK 3 days after we closed the border to everyone else.

        14
        1
    • Anonymous says:

      Additionally, the patients wife came off as well and spent the next 2 weeks at a hotel down on SMB. I think we are fortunate that this alone did not cause more cases. It seems fantastical that she was not showing symptoms nor was carrying it. But here we are.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Sounds like amateurs to me & not in the medical field!! Bracka.

    13
    7
  5. Anonymous says:

    The issue is that he was tested and found positive by accident. It’s where he was before he went into hospital that’s so worrying…

    10
    2
  6. Anonymous says:

    Patient zero was an Italian national. Italy had already seen surges in cases when he was taken off of the cruise ship. The fact that he came off a cruise ship meant he should have been isolated from the start. It’s not racism it is fact. Im sorry for him and now for his families loss but by admitting him without a quarantine protocol immediately in place was stupidly risky and could cost us our families. I hope to god that this is now contained and that a full recovery is in the future for all those infected by this man. If not there will be hell to pay.

    24
    3
    • Anonymous says:

      Thank you 8.42. He should have been treated as though he was COVID positive right off the ship. What happened to his wife? Where is she now? Where was she housed while he was at Health City? What measures were put into place to prevent the spread of the virus if she had it?

      The ship he came off of, disembarked all passengers on Cayman soil at Spotts on Feb 29th. There is a Compass article floating around.

      This is uncharted ground… they have no clue how to even begin to contain this.

      16
    • Anonymous says:

      What about the 2100 other passengers on the same ship they let come ashore the same day?

      11
  7. Anonymous says:

    They blew it. They have no idea how to handle an epidemic. Hospitals including Health City blew it. All people with acute respiratory symptoms must have been met by fully protected trained medical staff in hazmat suites away from the public areas and it should have been assumed they are all COVID positive unless proven otherwise. Not the other way around.

    Medical staff that was(hopefully) trained to handle all suspected and actual patients should have been housed away from their families for the duration of crisis. This is how it was done in China.

    Are food shortages and quarantined medical staff next? If one is at work 8-5 when is he going to buy groceries If curfews starts at 7 and there’s a line of people trying to get to a grocery store?

    21
    11

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.