Gleneagles Hospital Kota Kinabalu said the patient, a 55-year-old Malaysian, had been admitted for emergency surgery at the hospital but was confirmed on Friday as having been infected.

“She was promptly transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 for further confirmation and treatment,” Gleneagles said.

“All staff who had been in contact with the patient have been traced and placed in quarantine as a precaution in accordance with the guidelines by the district health office, with Covid-19 tests carried out on them,” it said in a statement today.

The hospital said that the patient had been swabbed prior to her surgery, in accordance with its Covid-19 protocol, which required compulsory testing for all procedures,

“Due to the urgency of the patient’s surgery, the hospital proceeded by treating the patient as a suspected case while awaiting the Covid-19 test results.

“As Gleneagles Kota Kinabalu had treated this patient as a suspected Covid-19 case, safety measures were implemented in the handling of the patient from the start,” it said.

It said all affected areas had been closed for disinfection.

Clinical services were not affected and patients could continue with their existing care plans, the hospital said.

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