Gozo General Hospital on Tuesday said that elective surgeries will be greatly reduced and non-urgent outpatient clinics have been stopped as part of a coronavirus contingency plan. 

The hospital said that non-urgent outpatients clinics have been stopped as of Tuesday. All elective and non-cancer related surgery will be "greatly reduced”.

Consultants and other professionals have been urged to vet referrals and appointments and support patients by telephone as much as is safely possible.

All non-urgent surgeries at Mater Dei Hospital have been postponed.

Gozo hospital's COVID-19 'surge plan'

Gozo hospital said its COVID-19 taskforce is meeting every day to manage the situation.

The hospital announced a “surge plan” that will see the Day Care Unit and the adjacent Decanting Unit host beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients who do not requite intensive care.

"More beds can be mobilised in due course and we will be communicating accordingly,” the hospital said.  

 Any urgent surgical and orthopaedic cases will be accommodated in Acute General Wards. 

Meanwhile, the Orthopaedic Unit is being converted to a 10-bedded COVID-19 ITU.

Visits to the elderly section (Residenza Sant’Anna) have been stopped to protect the most vulnerable patients.

Visits to other in-patients departments have been restricted in both visiting time and number – only one visitor is allowed per patient and visiting times are between 11.30am-12pm and 5pm-6pm.

Access to the hospital has been restricted to the main gate only and all people entering need to be screened for temperature, symptoms and travel and contact history.

The hospital urged staff to observe basic hygiene rules, avoid crowds, and not to travel.

Guidelines for caring for COVID-19 patients have been drafted by the taskforce in conjunction with expert advice, the hospital said.  

"This is an evolving situation and guidelines may be subject to change as per expert advice. We will do our best to keep stakeholders updated,” the hospital management said.