Half of A&E staff at one hospital test positive for coronavirus, doctor says

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Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, where 50 per cent of the A&E staff have apparently contracted the virus
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Rebecca Speare-Cole12 April 2020

Around half the A&E staff at one hospital of have tested positive for coronavirus, according to a consultant.

Dr Tim Rogerson said 50 per cent of the consultants and nurses working in the Royal Gwent Hospital's department have tested positive for Covid-19.

The staff at the hospital in Newport, south Wales are working in one of the worst-hit areas of the UK.

The doctor revealed the statistics in a video shared by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board - as he said he had also tested positive for the virus.

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The health board area, which includes Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen, has the highest number of cases in Wales and one of the worst in the UK.

Dr Rogerson said he had been off work since experiencing "mild to moderate" coronavirus symptoms and that his son has also tested positive for the virus.

"This has obviously happened despite all of the PPE that we've got and all the hand washing that we're doing but it's probably just a likely thing that's going to happen when we're faced with such numbers of patients coming in with coronavirus," he said.

"We're probably up to around 50% of the consultant workforce at the Gwent in A&E who have swabbed positive for the coronavirus and a similar percent in our nursing team.

"It's probably inevitable and it is proving a challenge when it's coming to staffing the department when we are facing these numbers coming through."

He added: "All staff on the various frontlines are putting themselves into harm's way when we're dealing with patients who have coronavirus symptoms."

Dr Rogerson also urged members of the public to stay indoors over the Easter weekend as breaching social distancing guidelines would hit the hospital's intensive care unit capacity in "two weeks' time".

"Although it's difficult, we really do want people to abide by the guidance, to stay at home and protect the NHS," he said.

The Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport is part of the Aneurin Bevan Health Board where 1,453 have tested positive for Covid-19 - the biggest in Wales and one of the highest areas in the UK.

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