
The medical ward at South West Healthcare (SWH) is again open to visitors after a positive COVID case was reported last week.
On Thursday, SWH shut the ward to visitors after a patient tested positive to COVID.
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A SWH spokesperson said surveillance testing was carried out on both staff and patients to ensure the virus was contained and so staff could manage any required changes to the ward.
The ward was re-opened to visitors on Monday.
"It was important to limit visitor traffic during this period of testing until results were received," the spokesperson said.
"Short-term closures like this are a common tool used in infection prevention. We apologise to any family members who were inconvenienced at this time."
The spokesperson reiterated the message to the community of the importance of mask-wearing inside the hospital.
"Despite our efforts to communicate this to the community, we are still finding members of the public taking their masks off in patient rooms to drink coffee or to chat" the spokesperson said.
"As previously reported, this has led to COVID infections on our wards.
"Our staff are working very hard to ensure that our service is COVID-free, please help us on this journey.
"We understand that visitor/patient contact is an important part of recovery, but visitor access will need to be reviewed if transmission of COVID inside the hospital continues."