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Five patients and two health professionals from the Portuguese Institute of Oncology (IPO) in Porto tested positive for covid-19, being in “isolation and with all the necessary security measures for this type of situation,” the institution revealed today.
In a written response sent to the Lusa agency, the Porto IPO states that “five patients and two health professionals positive for covid-19 were identified, all of them related to floor 08 of Building A [cirurgia]”.
In the note, which is signed by the board of directors, Porto’s IPO specifies that “yesterday the first case was detected [quinta-feira] in a patient who presented fever and suspected respiratory symptoms ”.
“A second inpatient on this floor was tested in the routine performance setting in preparation for the diagnostic procedure.”
“As both tests were positive for covid-19 and for patients from the same plant, it was immediately decided to carry out the test on all patients, as well as on the professionals who had been contacted, in close collaboration between the Control Commission of Infections (GCL-PPCIRA) and the Office of Occupational Medicine ”, describes the institution.
After this test, the cases of three more patients and two professionals were identified.
“The rest of the analysis of patients and professionals of that plant are in progress”, adds the IPO, guaranteeing that “this group of patients is in isolation with all the necessary safety measures recommended for this type of situation”.
The Porto OPI adds that “the procedures for the transfer of patients to the hospital units in the area of residence are already under way, where they will be followed up until they meet the conditions to continue their treatment or follow-up at the Porto OPI” and that “possible links between the detected cases are being investigated in order to identify the origin of this outbreak.”
Also underlining that “the identification of these cases results from the active and permanent strategy of attention to the covid-19 pandemic and the measures implemented from the beginning to guarantee the safety of patients and professionals”, the institute emphasizes that ” the best clinical practices will be followed for their patients, who must maintain confidence in the competence and dedication of professionals in this pandemic situation ”.
The covid-19 pandemic has already claimed more than 1.3 million deaths worldwide since December last year, including 3,762 in Portugal.
The disease is transmitted by a new coronavirus detected in late December 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China.
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