St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children is closing its intensive care unit to new admissions after a doctor was diagnosed with coronavirus.
The news was first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer and confirmed by NBC10 via a Tower Health Spokesperson. Drexel University President John Fry told colleagues and students in an email that the physician, who works in the ICU, was last at the hospital March 11 and felt symptoms the next day, the Inquirer reported. Fry said the man did not contract the virus in the hospital.
The university and Tower Health are joint owners of St. Christopher’s.
“The ICU is closed to new admissions and the Level 1 Trauma department is closed,” Fry wrote, according to the Inquirer. "Children currently in the ICU will not be transferred out of the unit.”
Fry said staff have been notified and will wear protective equipment, and that the hospital is “contacting the families of any patients, family members, and employees who may have been exposed,” the newspaper reported.
It was not immediately clear how long the ICU was to remain closed.
