“From the information that I have and it is reliable although still subject to confirmation, we are talking about 10% of the nurses in casualty” having tuberculosis due to the “lack of any isolation unit,” said Gomes.
That nursing was a profession with a certain degree of risk, despite not being generally recognised, Gomes said that this situation highlighted “the need for some investment in setting up isolation units that might protect not only healthcare professionals but also other patients.”
Gomes added that the ten percent suffered from “multi-resistant tuberculosis associated with drug addiction.”
The comments from the nursing order leader come following reports of tuberculosis among Portimão hospital staff in Lusa with the local union representative accusing the Algarve Hospital Group of failing to comply with workplace safety rules due to the lack of any isolation facility and instead attempting to contain contagious diseases in the emergency ward with a curtain.