UK health minister, surgeons test positive for coronavirus

United Kingdom health minister and Conservative Party MP Nadine Dorries is the first British politician to be diagnosed with the coronavirus as of March 10. Dorries first showed symptoms on March 5, the same day as her meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

A Liverpool cancer surgeon has also been confirmed to have been infected after returning from a trip. The surgeon was on holiday in northern Italy last month and went back to work at the Aintree University Hospital two days after returning. The hospital now fears that the surgeon might have infected patients and staff from the hospital.

London children’s hospital affected

The Great Ormond Street Hospital, a world-famous specialist children’s hospital in London, has suspended all heart surgeries for two weeks after a staff member from the cardiology department was said to have contracted coronavirus on March 10. Patients who came into contact with the infected staff member will be notified, according to a statement released by the National Health Service (NHS) Trust, an organizational unit under the English NHS.

“We would like to reassure our families that anybody who came into close contact with this individual is being informed and will be offered advice. The majority of services are unaffected and all essential treatment is being carried out, and to ensure patient and staff safety the cardiology department will not be carrying out non-essential cardiac procedures including surgery and outpatients,” the statement read.

Another death in UK

The UK has reported the sixth fatality from the coronavirus, with 383 cases reported as of March 11. The latest death is that of a patient at Watford General Hospital who reportedly had underlying health conditions.

“Sadly, we can confirm that a man who was being cared for at Watford General Hospital, and had tested positive for Covid-19, has died. The patient, who died in the evening of Monday, March 10, was in his early 80s and had underlying health conditions. His family have been informed and our thoughts and condolences at this difficult and distressing time,” said a spokesperson for the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Cyprus surgeon infected

A Cyprus heart surgeon testing positive for coronavirus has caused the suspension of admissions to the island’s largest medical facility on March 10. All new admissions have been suspended for 48 hours. Schools have also been closed and large church services banned.

The Nicosia General Hospital has confirmed that its 64-year-old lead heart surgeon was infected with the virus. He was one of the first two coronavirus cases diagnosed in Cyprus on March 9.

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