Vice President of Patient Care Michelle Scime-Summers assures the public that the Hanover and District Hospital is well prepared in the event that the coronavirus makes its way to the region.
She says the Hospital has many good precautionary measures in place that came about from the SARS period which include: negative pressure rooms, proactive screening as well as a healthy supply of infection control equipment and gear.
Scime-Summers says the Hospital Lab is stocked up and the Hospital has a generous supply of Personal Protective Equipment for staff to wear if needed.
New signage has also been erected around the Hospital in response to the coronavirus to ensure patients also take precautions.
As for protecting yourself from the coronavirus, Scime-Summers says the importance of hand hygiene cannot be stressed enough.
Along with hand washing, she advises the public to avoid contact with people who are sick and to always exercise proper cough and sneeze etiquette.
Upon arrival at the Hanover and District Hospital patients will be asked:
-If they have a cough, cold or fever or any respiratory symptoms?
-Whether they have traveled to Wuhan China?
-If they have come in contact with someone who has or is suspected of having cough or flu like symptoms or may have been exposed to the coronavirus?
If they are at risk of possibly having the virus, the patient will be asked to clean their hands using alcohol hand sanitizer and put on a mask, they will be taken into an isolation room until a diagnosis can be confirmed.
For more information about Novel Coronavirus, visit the Ontario Health website or the www.publichealthgreybrue.on.ca .