TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taipei City Hospital Heping Branch reported Thursday (May 20) that two additional patients and three employees are infected with the coronavirus and that it will be closed to outpatients until May 28.
On May 13, two inpatients at the hospital were confirmed to be positive for COVID-19. Fearing a nosocomial outbreak, emergency room operations were temporarily suspended, 50 staff members were tested, and inpatients were told they could no longer re-enter the hospital once they left.
One week later, the hospital has announced that two more patients have tested positive for the disease. Officials stated that they do not believe the patients contracted the disease in the hospital and that they had recently been in Taipei's Wanhua District, a hotspot for infections in the city, reported ETtoday.
The hospital also announced that after it had carried out testing on employees, it has found the three staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, according to CNA. Despite the new infections, hospital officials reiterated their belief that there is not a chain of infection inside the hospital.
Given that there now seven confirmed cases, the hospital will close its outpatient clinic until May 28, in accordance with Central Epidemic Command Center guidelines.
