COVID hospital ensures zero medical staff infection

The design and management of the emergency area of the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, the city's designated COVID treatment facility, have ensured zero medical staff infection, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.

The emergency area of the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, the city’s designated COVID treatment facility, framed in red, is physically separated from the hospital headquarters. Courtesy of the hospital

The emergency area, located south of Shuiguan Expressway, is separated from the hospital headquarters by hills. It consists of an emergency ward and living and logistics areas, with 1,008 negative pressure beds (including 16 intensive care beds) and two negative pressure operating rooms. The area's design looks like a fish bone from an aerial view.

With the natural physical barrier between the two hospital areas, the emergency area and the hospital headquarters do not share the same traffic line to ensure that transporting COVID patients are conducted in a closed loop, the report said.

In addition, the emergency area has an independent medical and nursing team, which is responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of COVID patients.

Medical and patient corridors are also separated to minimize the risk of hospital infection.

In terms of biosafety, COVID nucleic acid tests are carried out in laboratories with Level Two biological safety (BSL-2) or above.

The test result analysis is more complex than screening samples. At least two reagents are used for testing, and the result analysis needs one-to-one correspondence of two reagents. Therefore, it takes at least three hours for a positive specimen to be reviewed.

Meanwhile, pneumatic pressure regulating devices are adopted to avoid aerosol pollution. The PCR laboratory's air flow must strictly follow a single direction.

A conventional COVID testing lab can be divided into reagent storage and preparation area, sample preparation area, and nucleic acid amplification and analysis area. In the emergency area, the testing lab is also equipped with a sample receiving area, clinical routine testing room, clinical microbiology room, positive sample reagent preparation room, positive sample processing room and amplification room.

In terms of medical waste treatment, the temporary storage areas of infectious medical waste are managed by special personnel.

COVID medical wastes are not mixed with other medical wastes or domestic wastes. They can only be transported out of the laboratory after high-pressure sterilization. All personnel entering the lab should have received three shots of COVID vaccines and related training after acquiring necessary certificates.

Once entering the lab, the personnel's entry and exit will be registered, and they can only be picked up by a special bus to centralized quarantine. They should take a COVID test every day and monitor and report their daily health situation to ensure zero medical personnel infection, the report said.