Taipei City Hospital yesterday rejected a rumor that 50 of its nurses wanted to resign en masse due to worries over COVID-19.
It is normal for some personnel to quit their jobs before and after the Lunar New Year holiday, with 104 people resigning from January to March 2018, 77 in the same period last year and 86 people this year, the hospital said.
Medical staff battling the COVID-19 outbreak are under greater pressure than during the SARS outbreak in 2003, hospital vice dean Weng Lin-chung (翁林仲) said.
Photo: Shen Pei-yao, Taipei Times
The hospital’s Heping Fuyou Branch, its only branch designated to treat or quarantine COVID-19 cases, has 29 negative-pressure isolation wards staffed by 26 nurses, Weng said, adding that none of the nurses have tendered their resignation.
The hospital said that it was prepared and ready for COVID-19, as it had been conducting regular exercises under the guidance of the Taipei Department of Health.
It called on people to observe disease-prevention measures, such as wearing masks; frequently washing their hands; refraining from touching their eyes, ears and the mouth; avoiding crowded areas; and regularly measuring their body temperature.
Separately yesterday, the Taipei City Government said that starting tomorrow, people who want to fill out prescriptions at the city’s hospitals would be asked to wait outside the buildings, where pharmacists would deliver their medicines.
The measure is expected to reduce hospital visits by 1,500, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said.
Taipei City Hospital allows visitors in after taking their temperature and confirming their identity, Huang said, but added that the Heping branch is an exception.
In related news, the Taoyuan Department of Health announced that 11 hospitals offering emergency room services would ban all visits to hospitalized patients starting tomorrow.
The ban excludes relatives of people who are in a critical condition, the Taoyuan City Government said.
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