Queen Mary Hospital announcement on alarm of negative pressure system in isolation ward
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The spokesperson for Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) made the following announcement today (May 22) concerning the alarm of a negative pressure system in an isolation ward:
At 11.35am today, the alarm of a negative pressure system was triggered in an isolation ward of QMH. Staff of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) were informed immediately for on-site inspection. It was suspected that the repair work for the ventilation system outside the ward might have triggered the alarm. The preliminary assessment indicated that the air pressure in the anterooms of three single isolation rooms inside the ward had changed, but the negative pressure of each single isolation room remained normal and fulfilled the infection control standard. The system resumed normal operation at 12.10pm after checking.
During the incident, a confirmed COVID-19 patient was admitted to a single isolation room and stayed in the room all along. No healthcare workers were inside the room. All doors of the rooms in the isolation ward had been kept closed. The healthcare staff had all worn appropriate personal protective equipment and no high-risk procedure was performed inside the ward. There were no visitors either. The infection risk has been assessed to be very low.
The hospital is highly concerned about the incident and has reported it to the Hospital Authority Head Office via the Advance Incident Reporting System. QMH has urged the EMSD to conduct an investigation to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Ends/Friday, May 22, 2020
Issued at HKT 20:00
Issued at HKT 20:00
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