Water seepage at hospital explained

January 29, 2021

(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

 

The Hospital Authority today announced an incident of water seepage through the ceiling at Queen Mary Hospital that affected a ward housing COVID-19 patients.

 

It explained that at around 9.30am yesterday, water seepage was found on the ceiling of a cardiothoracic surgical (CTS) ward of the hospital’s Main Block. Right above that ward is an isolation ward housing confirmed COVID-19 patients.

 

An inspection revealed that there was drainage leakage at the isolation ward and the water seeped through the ceiling of the CTS ward.

 

It caused water droplets to drip on a male patient’s head and hand. He also suspected that water had drizzled into his eyes.

 

Water droplets also dripped on the face and head of a nurse in the CTS ward and the face of a cleaning staff handling the water seepage.

 

The hospital's infection control team visited the ward concerned to determine the cause of the incident and the patient's condition. While the patient required hospitalisation for treatment, he has been transferred to an isolation ward for further treatment as a precautionary measure.

 

While the nurse and the cleaning staff will undergo medical surveillance, the hospital also arranged for the three affected to undergo COVID-19 tests and the test results were negative.

 

Part of the CTS ward is currently closed for disinfection and repairs. Twelve patients in the ward were transferred to other areas and two operations originally scheduled for today have been postponed. The hospital has contacted the affected patients to explain and reschedule the operations.

 

Meanwhile, there was no interruption to isolation services throughout this period.

 

Comprehensive repairs and improvement works for the related drainage pipes have been arranged and will be completed in one to two weeks.

 

The hospital has apologised to the affected patients.

Back to top