Coronavirus: Health boss defends closing Weston hospital

The hospital, in Weston-super-Mare, stopped accepting new patients on 25 May due to a high number of cases

A health boss says the decision to shut Weston General Hospital was right after patients on a non-Covid ward and 100 staff tested positive.

The hospital, in Weston-super-Mare, stopped accepting new patients on 25 May due to a high number of cases.

Julia Ross, from the regional clinical commissioning group (CCG), said it was a "difficult decision to close" but she thinks the "outbreak is under control".

It is not yet known when the hospital will reopen.

About 6% of the 1,700 staff tested positive, despite being asymptomatic.

Ms Ross, chief executive of the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire CCG, said five patients on a non-Covid ward had "identified as being Covid-positive", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

She told the CCG's governing body meeting on Tuesday that "because of the risk of further transmission" they had taken the "difficult" decision to shut the Somerset hospital.

"I'm absolutely convinced it was the right thing to do," she said.

"Since then there have been no new cases. I think the outbreak is under control."

Julia Ross, from the regional clinical commissioning group (CCG), said she thinks the "outbreak is under control"

Ms Ross said patients would undergo a fourth round of testing and staff would be tested for a second time.

"A small number of staff were Covid-positive, around 7%," she said.

"People are working hard to identify the source of the outbreak, however it's not currently known." 

She added the CCG had no concerns about the hospital's record on infection control.

It has not been confirmed when the hospital would reopen but bosses said it was expected to be shut to new patients for at least a week while a deep-clean takes place and wards are reconfigured.