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AT WORK: Clinic Manager and Professor Terje Rootwelt at the Children and Adolescents Clinic of the Oslo University Hospital, in front of the department entrance. Photo: Mimsy Møller, Samfoto
Rikshospitalet’s neonatal intensive care unit closed its doors after an infection was discovered among nurses on Friday. Three newborns are isolated.
22 nurses, two chief doctors and three children from the Rikshospitalet neonatal intensive care unit are in quarantine after an infection was discovered in two nurses on Friday.
Almost all have been tested, and all tested negative, says clinic director and professor Terje Rootwelt from the Department of Children and Adolescents at Oslo University Hospital.
– We are very happy that no one has symptoms and that they have tested negative. Parents of isolated children are well cared for, but of course it is a burden. Mothers are isolated along with their newborn children, Rootwelt tells VG.
There are about 150 employees in the department. The fact that 24 of them, about a sixth, are now in quarantine is remarkable.
– It is a major challenge when so many are in quarantine. We have been cautious and eliminated anyone who may have had close contact with the infected.
Have enough staff
Rikshospitalet’s newborn intensive care unit has a total of 20 beds and treats newborns with various conditions.
Patients range from very premature babies to seriously ill babies born at term.
The department also has national responsibility for treatment for all newborns with congenital heart defects.
Even before the infection was known, there were fewer children than usual. Now there is half occupation in the department.
Rootwelt says they have taken precautions to limit infection and make sure there are enough staff for children who are hospitalized.
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Two employees of the Rikshospitalet neonatal intensive care unit infected with corona
– We have not received any new ones in the neonatal intensive care unit since the infection was known and we have a good staff. Employees take care of infection control routines and everyone wears a bandage when they can’t keep six feet away.
Children who need special skills only in the newborn intensive care unit will continue to receive help. The director of the clinic is fully aware of this.
– If the newborns do not need access to the offer that only Rikshospitalet has, they are sent to Ullevål. Those who need the Rikshospitalet experience will be greeted here, but preferably in the Infant Intensive Care Unit, which is located just outside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, he says.
– did everything right
There are two nurses in the room who have been confirmed infected. It appears that one of them infected the other, but not enough is known about it yet, Rootwelt explains.
– Here, employees have done exactly what they had to do, but it will still happen that someone gets infected when there is so much infection in society. Employees will be infected, so we are fully aware that if you have symptoms or are sick you should not come to work.
Those who are now quarantined will stay there for ten days and will have to test negative again before they can go to work.
– We believe that we have a good control of the situation and we hope that no one else is infected. We have a very low threshold for testing and we follow a regimen prepared by the hospital’s infection control department.
