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One of the largest single oubreaks of Covid-19 in Hull during the second wave of the virus happenend in Hull Royal Infirmary, it has been revealed.
A new report by the Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says an outbreak was declared on ward 90 at the Anlaby Road hospital on November 2 – making it the most serious local case of in-hospital transmission of the virus since the start of the pandemic.
It suggests the virus could have been brought back into the ward by unsupervised patients who had wandered off into other areas of the hospital.
The general ward is for elderly patients and, until the outbreak, it’s believed they were Covid-free having previously been admitted for other medical reasons.
According to relatives who have spoken to Hull Live, at least two patients eventually died after testing positive for the virus.
At the time, infection rates in the city were soaring with Hull having just been placed in Tier 2 of the regional Covid alert level system.
A second national lockdown was implemented three days later.
The report for the trust’s monthly board meeting held earlier this week says: “An outbreak was declared on H90 (ward 90) on November 2 of Covid-19 affecting predominantly patients but also staff to a lesser degree.
“Thirty patients screened positive during the course of the outbreak. 180 staff were screened. 18 tested positive representing a positivity rate of 14 per cent.
“Of those 18 positive, three were asymptomatic.”
The joint report by the trust’s deputy chief nurse Jo Ledger and acting deputy director of quality governance Kate Southgate concludes: “Lessons learnt included earlier escalation and stricter control measures by the Infection Prevention and Control Team and the management of confused wandering patients who subsequently screened positive after admission.”
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After the outbreak was declared, it’s believed the ward was closed and subjected to a deep clean.
Covid-19 in-patient numbers at the trust’s two hospitals – Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill in Cottingham – peaked at 183 on November 16 with critical care in-patient numbers peaking at 20 on November 24.
Since then, numbers have fallen but still remain worryingly high.
(Image: Sky News)
In his report to the board, trust chief executive Chris Long said: “November was our most challenging month of the pandemic to date, and once again I would like to pay tribute to everyone at the trust for rising to this challenge and ensuring we continue to deliver excellent care to all of our patients.
“We have not only maintained a lot of our ordinary activity, we have changed the use of several wards, dealt with infection control challenges and managed a high number of admissions through the emergency department.
“November has also been a very sad period for our trust, marking the point at which we saw our 300th death from Covid-19.
“Tragically, that figure, at the time of writing is now 368. Nothing brings the gravity of this situation more to light that this figure, which we must remember represents 368 families and scores of loved ones who have suffered a devastating loss.”
Hull and East Yorkshire’s death toll as of December 11 stands at 405.
