NBC News (4/17, Ramgopal) reported on the presence of coronavirus at the Western State Hospital psychiatric facility near Tacoma, Washington. According to NBC News, “thirty-four patients and staffers have tested positive at Western State since the outbreak began, and one patient has died.” NBC News said, “The challenges are different in psychiatric wards,” as “alcohol-based hand sanitizer is an ingestion hazard,” and “isolation can be dangerous.” American Psychiatric Association council member and Chair of psychiatry at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Dr. Robert Trestman said, “Our facilities are designed to encourage people getting together, not to keep people apart.” He added “that the coronavirus outbreak has created major challenges around the nation,” stating, “We are forced to deliver care in ways that historically none of us have ever tried to practice and which are by no means optimum.”
Related Links:
— “Coronavirus in a psychiatric hospital: ‘It’s the worst of all worlds’, “Kit Ramgopal, NBC News, April 17, 2020