Coronavirus outbreak Eleven nursing staff at Bonn University Hospital are infected
Bonn · A Covid-19 outbreak has been reported at the University Hospital in Bonn. Up to now, eleven employees have tested positive for the virus. They were so-called breakthrough cases. And in a home for the elderly, 18 residents have fallen ill with the virus.
Following a privately organized basketball game, eleven employees of the Bonn University Hospital (UKB) became infected with the coronavirus. According to UKB spokeswoman Elke Pfeifer, the infection was initially confirmed in one employee following the game on October 21. "As part of the immediately initiated contact-person management, another ten teammates tested positive and were placed in quarantine," Pfeifer said. All of those infected were fully vaccinated UKB nursing staff who had displayed only mild symptoms. No transmission of the virus occurred within the hospital as a result, and the outbreak did not originate in the hospital, Pfeifer said.
The Bonn GFO clinics, encompassing St. Joseph and St. Mary hospitals and the Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus (Community Hospital) which includes St. Peter's and St. Elizabeth's reported that they had isolated cases of infected employees. The Johanniter hospitals currently have no known cases. Bonn hospitals report that vaccination rates are "very high." UKB and Johanniter hospitals cite a rate of more than 90 percent.
A query by the GA revealed that the unvaccinated among the staff of Bonn's hospitals are tested at least twice a week, using rapid tests that are more accurate than commercially available ones, according to Katharina Stromberg for the Community Hospital. At Johanniter Hospital, PCR tests are also used at regular intervals, explained their spokesman Michael Forst. Vaccinated staff can also get tested, which can be useful in high-risk situations or environments. The costs for all tests are covered by the employers. The hospitals act in accordance with the current "Corona Test and Quarantine Ordinance" of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This dictates that medical facilities such as hospitals must create a testing concept and regularly test non-vaccinated employees. According to the state's current testing ordinance, testing is mandatory for hospital employees who are not vaccinated.
Booster vaccinations are already being given in many hospitals. The UKB expects about a thousand employees to receive a third jab by the end of this week. In the GFO clinics, according to spokeswoman Dorothea Adams, staff are being asked about booster shots, which are in high demand. Appointments are to be scheduled in the next two weeks.
In response to an inquiry, the health department said Wednesday that the city is aware of another outbreak with more than three people infected. As of Wednesday in the senior living home of the Sacred Heart Monastery, 18 residents and two employees were reportedly infected. At 33 Bonn schools, a total of 38 cases are known to the health department, and no teachers are in quarantine. There were also six cases of Covid-19 at five kindergartens.
