A patient feared to have the Ebola virus at a Glasgow hospital has tested negative, health officials have confirmed, after part of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital was sealed off in the early hours of Tuesday.
The patient, who had just arrived back in Glasgow from an affected Ebola country, presented at the Acute Receiving Unit at around 6am after developing symptoms. Precautionary measures were immediately taken, with the unit shut down and sealed off from the rest of the hospital, according to a source. If confirmed, it would have been the first Ebola case in the UK for a decade.
“Patient tests negative for Ebola after Glasgow hospital lockdown”
Public Health Scotland (PHS) said it was aware that an individual in Scotland was tested for Ebola as a ‘precautionary measure’ and that the test result has now been received and is negative. A spokesperson said: ‘Public Health Scotland is working closely with UKHSA to assess routes by which travellers may enter the UK from affected countries. The risk from people arriving in the UK from affected areas is low and the NHS has safe procedures in place for detecting and managing any such cases.’
The source, speaking to The National, described the response: ‘Obviously Ebola is a deadly and contagious illness, and emergency measures had to be put in place immediately to protect both staff and any members of the public. The person came to the Acute Receiving Unit, where people are sent by their GP or the health board’s 101 number to avoid having to present at accident and emergency. This was quickly shut down and sealed off from the rest of the hospital. The person was assessed there and then taken elsewhere in the hospital. I believe they were put into confinement while the tests to establish if they have Ebola or something else are carried out.’
Another hospital worker told the Glasgow Times: ‘The mere mention of the word Ebola strikes panic into people. You think of it as a disease that happens elsewhere. The hospital has strict protocols and procedures to deal with these types of rare occurrences and everything seemed to be followed to a tee, but it is still a worry for those who were on duty at the time.’
The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda in May has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). PHS added that where required, contact tracing will occur and contacts may undergo clinical assessment and precautionary testing. The UKHSA Returning Workers Scheme (RWS), which aims to protect and monitor the health of those who may travel from the UK to affected areas for their work, has been activated.
Back in 2014, a Scottish nurse became the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the UK after treating patients in the ‘Red Zone’ in Sierra Leone.