WILLEMSTAD - Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) will scale up the internal processes to guarantee emergency, acute and essential care to patients. Due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital, the CMC is forced to cancel some elective surgeries. Patients scheduled to be admitted for elective treatments will be called this week if their appointment must be canceled. The appointments at the outpatient clinics continue as usual. All patients visiting the hospital for an appointment must wear a face mask and access for patient visits is not permitted without official authorization documents. This is a form that must be completed by the hospital on which the visitor can gain access to the ward. This is a measure that has recently been implemented. Only one visitor is allowed per patient.
In total, 47 CMC personnel have tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic; 27 of these are now active and 20 employees have since recovered. There are currently 12 patients in the COVID-19 ward and it appears that three patients will be stable enough to be discharged from the hospital. As the only general hospital in Curaçao, it is very important that CMC can continue to guarantee emergency, acute and essential care at all times. It is therefore necessary to cancel some elective surgeries as the number of patients and staff infected with COVID-19 has increased.
CMC would like to reaffirm the community to contact their primary care physician if anyone experiences COVID-19 symptoms. The only way we can get out of this situation is through the cooperation and support of our community. Protect yourself and your family.