Patients in east Kent who have been confirmed as having the coronavirus are being treated at QEQM Hospital in Margate and William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
Yesterday (March 19) a WHH patient was confirmed with the virus. There are patients also being treated for the virus at QEQM.
An East Kent Hospitals Trust spokesperson said: “Patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 are being cared for in isolation in our hospitals at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate and William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
“Our highly trained and experienced teams are following advice from Public Health England and the NHS nationally while providing the best possible care.
“We would like to thank our staff for continuing to work tirelessly to care for our patients and to keep our hospitals and services running.”
National situation
As of 9am today (March 20), 66,976 people have been tested in the UK, of which 62,993 were confirmed negative and 3,983 were confirmed positive.
As of 1pm, 177 patients in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have died including a 64-year-old man from Medway.
In Kent 32 people have now been confirmed as positive for the virus with a further 11 in Medway.
Confirmed cases in Thanet include one at Birchington Vale, another in Westgate, a Saga employee and a parent of a Chatham & Clarendon grammar student as well as at least two patients in QEQM.
Government health advice
Stay at home if you have either:
- a high temperature – you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
- a new, continuous cough – this means you’ve started coughing repeatedly
Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
You do not need to contact 111 to tell them you’re staying at home.
Testing for coronavirus is not needed if you’re staying at home.
- if you have symptoms, stay at home for 7 days
- if you live with other people, they should stay at home for 14 days from the day the first person got symptoms
If you live with someone who is 70 or over, has a long-term condition, is pregnant or has a weakened immune system, try to find somewhere else for them to stay for 14 days.
If you have to stay at home together, try to keep away from each other as much as possible.
Use the NHS 111 online coronavirus service if:
- you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home
- your condition gets worse
- your symptoms do not get better after 7 days
Actually there’s only one patient confirmed at QEQM. Please get your facts correct before reporting, this can cause even more panic to the general public unnecessarily.
That is different from the information I have. I do make enquiries before publishing but will go back with what you have said. The Trust will not confirm numbers, my information does come from within the health service though.
Thank you Kathy for all your hard work reporting all this on top of the usual news you bring. It’s a invaluable information for many during this time of uncertainty. Stay safe and well.
Where in the QEQM hospital is the patient? As I’ve been on rainbow ward with son and exstrmly worried now.
My son was up A & E on Tuesday with his partner who had c section and the hospital f***ed it up so she had an emergency operation Tuesday night and there was a suspected case of covid 19 in the next cubicle . I’m looking after the baby as she cant pick her up for 8 weeks . I’m petrified that I could get the virus now and I’ve got copd
It’s time to sit down & think of uther people we seem to become a very selfish society the older generation know what hard times are.
In whh after being taken there after having a heart attack night before patient was brought in to the ward next day one nurse said too self isolate another said i didn’t need to doesn’t anyone at whh know what to do do