St. Thomas Elgin General hospital declares its first COVID outbreak in Acute Medicine Unit
CBC
Contact tracing and testing efforts are underway after St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital (STEGH) declared its first outbreak of COVID-19 on its 5th floor Acute Medicine Unit on Friday.
The outbreak was declared after three patients on the unit tested positive for the virus. The unit is currently closed to essential caregivers.
STEGH said its working closely with Southwestern Public Health Unit and its Infection Prevention and Control team to monitor the situation, and notify patients and staff affected by the outbreak.
"This recent increasing surge of COVID-19 cases in our community puts our hospital at risk," said Karen Davies, president and CEO, in a news release.
"This is our first outbreak which speaks to the exceptional attention of our Infection Prevention and Control Measures over the past 22 months as we have managed a high volume of COVID."
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) also has active COVID outbreaks at both the Victoria and University hospital locations.
On Jan.1, there was an outbreak declared at the University hospital's 7IP Clinical Neurosciences Wing. The unit has nine confirmed patient cases and eight potential staff cases.
Victoria Hospital declared an outbreak in its Adult Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit on Dec. 31. The unit has five or fewer confirmed patient cases and 13 potential staff cases.
Bluewater Health in Sarnia, Ont., declared an outbreak in its Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit, with six patients who have tested positive. The hospital says there are no staff infections linked to the outbreak at this time.
On behalf of STEGH, Davies urges all residents in Elgin County to get vaccinated and follow public health guidelines to keep themselves and others safe and healthy.
