The Infectious Diseases Hospital, the facility that houses COVID-19 patients, will remain, despite low hospitalisation rates.
Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, MP, on Tuesday during his daily COVID-19 Update said maintaining capacity for a possible spike in cases, remains a priority.
In response to a question raised about the facility now being empty due to the significant decrease in COVID hospitalisations over the past few weeks, the minister said that it is still important to ensure that the healthcare system is prepared for new cases.
“Right now, we are using it for COVID-19 patients, and those with different comorbidities. As it is now, the numbers are low…that does not mean that that cannot change and therefore we want to make sure that we still maintain the services,” the health minister underscored.
Dr. Anthony explained, however, that if after further monitoring there is no need to keep that particular space open, the ministry will consider allowing other services to be brought to the facility.
“We will observe, and then maybe at some later point, we will make a decision…to shift some of the other patients [who do not have COVID-19] to that facility. But as of now, we still want to maintain hospital beds for potential COVID patients,” he reiterated.
The facility at Ocean View has a total of 195 beds, with most of them now having oxygen stations attached. Additionally, the facility can offer a range of additional services to COVID-19 patients, such as dialysis, emergency surgeries, and emergency Caesarian Section.
As of press time today, there was only one person hospitalised with COVID-19.