6th March 2020
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Friday 6th March 2020 Issue No.79
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s u r i v a n o r Co alert! 4
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Battling to keep it at bay...
Prepared for any outbreak Residents are being assured that Isle of Wight NHS Trust and the IW Council are working together to do everything they can to keep coronavirus at bay, or control any potential threat of a major outbreak, should it reach here. So far no cases of the virus, also known as COVID-19, have been reported on the Island, but with the spread having now reached areas just across the Solent in Hampshire and West Sussex, many fear it is a matter of not if, but when! In line with hospitals elsewhere in the country, St Mary’s Hospital in Newport has set up a Coronavirus Pod to help test possible cases. A stand-alone portakabin near the Mottistone Ward has been converted into a Pod, and it is understood it has toilet facilities, seating, and an area for testing for the virus.There are also four isolated car parking spaces adjacent to it, but people are being asked not visit the Pod unless they have first contacted NHS 111, and told to do so. It is away from the main entrance and the A&E department to help protect patients and staff in other areas of the hospital. An Isle of Wight statement on Coronavirus said: “The NHS has set up processes to Continued on page 3