Coronavirus UK: North Somerset hospital slated as a ‘Petri Dish of Infections’ to be shut for at least a week

A hospital that closed its doors to new patients because of a high number of coronavirus cases has been told to shut for new admissions for a week at the earliest.

ALL staff at Weston General Hospital are being tested, amid what was described as ‘an emerging picture’ of asymptomatic workers testing positive.

The council has urged the trust to ‘explain exactly what the situation is.’ Forty per cent of staff tested last week had tested positive and more than 60 patients were found to be infected last weekend. North Somerset Council said: “Trust leaders need to come out and explain exactly what the situation is.”

Mr Woolley, from The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, said the 40 per cent figure cited “was a small sample testing” done last week and they would understand how many staff “have actually got the infection” when more results come back.

“By the end of the week, I should have the results that tell me what we’re dealing with, in terms of the scale of infection inside the hospital. Then we’ll be able to put our plan together to reopen, but I need to be clear that it’s probably at least a week possibly longer before we’re able to do that.

“We want to be absolutely safe, we want to deep clean everywhere and make sure that staff are in the right places.”

The hospital had experienced a ‘spike’ in infections and was being closed to new patients so a deep clean could take place, according to John Penrose, the MP for Weston-super-Mare, who tweeted that he had spoken to local health chiefs.