SPANISH TOWN, St Catherine — Patients awaiting surgery at Spanish Town Hospital for weeks are facing a new degree of worry about outsiders infecting them with the dreaded novel coronavirus.

The affected patients have been stranded at the hospital because of delays brought on by a lack of manpower and more recently a broken air-conditioning unit in the operating theatre. It is believed that, even with the delays, hospital staff felt it necessary to keep the patients confined to the wards instead of discharging them, in hopes that they would be at a lesser risk of contracting the virus that is wreaking havoc on the population.

However, the decision appeared to have backfired with COVID-19-infected patients being removed from the wards daily. Yesterday, an entire ward of patients was confirmed as COVID-19 positive, though the patients had been confined there for weeks.

“The patients haven’t been anywhere on the outside and are now being told that they are COVID-19-positive. That is very distressing. It is unfair to the patients and it is happening because they are from the poorer class,” a source said, on condition of anonymity.

“It is scary to see hospital staff in full PPE (personal protective equipment) gear removing patients from the wards every day. These are patients who are experiencing breathing issues and are coughing incessantly. Some are asymptomatic. Patients have been on the ward coughing and showing signs for days before they are removed. The space is crammed, and no information is shared with them. Everyone now has to look out for their own well-being,” the source said.

The source disclosed however that, to the hospital’s credit, patients are swabbed regularly for the presence of COVID-19. Nevertheless, the jostling for space inside the wards makes it difficult for physical distancing – a measure that helps to keep the virus at bay.

“Patients wear their masks, but they are crammed together. The patients just want their surgeries done and to be sent home where they feel they will be much safer than on the wards that see a constant stream of visitors and change of medical staff every single day. That is how the virus travels,” the source said.

“The patients need to get their surgeries done. Fix the AC and ensure that the required medical practitioners are available so that patients whose surgeries have been put off for weeks can be dealt with and be discharged by Friday. The hospital is fostering a brewing crisis. Get the surgeries done and send the patients home to heal,” the source added, noting that a number of the surgeries are minor and include treating broken limbs.

Jamaica is experiencing a third wave of the virus with recent confirmation of the presence of the fast-moving Delta variant on the island. Latest numbers released by the Ministry of Health yesterday showed that the island had 17,881 confirmed active cases as at Monday since the first case was reported last year March. A total of 729 positive cases and eight COVID-related deaths were recorded on Monday with a positivity rate of 47.6 per cent. The positivity rate is based solely on public testing.

Meanwhile, hospitalisations climbed to 767 patients, up from 723 the previous day, while the moderately ill and severely ill stood steadily at 192 and 88, respectively. The number of critically ill stood at 60, down from 62 the previous day.