An employee of the intensive care unit at the University Hospital of Northern Norway (UNN) in Tromsø has tested positive for COVID-19. He was wearing a protective mask that was pirated.
He has been tested several times after using the false masks. The first tests were negative, but a few days ago the member of staff experienced symptoms and stayed home after that. A new test then showed that he was infected with COVID-19, the UNN said in a press release.
The hospital does not consider it likely that the person has infected others as all the samples taken while the employee was at work were negative.
On March 20, UNN received a supply of thousands of protective masks from a private operator. Pending a product description, the hospital contacted what they thought was the mask manufacturer. The manufacturer they contacted had not made the masks and thus could not quality assure them.
“It was then decided that the masks should be set aside. Unfortunately, 800 of these were handed over to employees and put into service, and that should not have happened,” UNN CEO Anita Schumacher told NRK April 5.
In total, 21 UNN employees have tested positive for COVID-19. Three of these are recently reported.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
Be the first to comment on "Hospital employee used pirated protective mask – tested positive for coronavirus"