WINDSOR, ONT. -- Windsor Regional Hospital confirmed a COVID-19 outbreak in a second unit at its Met Campus with five patients testing positive for the virus.
The five patients are from the 6th floor North (6N) unit and tested positive within the last four days. They are considered hospital-acquired cases, WRH said in a news release issued Saturday.
“As previously stated, we expect to experience these situations as COVID-19 continues to spread in our community,” said Karen Riddell, WRH vice-president of critical care and clinical support. “We continue to remain vigilant in taking the correct precautions to reduce the opportunity for spread of the COVID-19 virus by following infection prevention and control guidelines to the best of our ability.”
The release said all patients on the unit were tested on Friday, Dec. 18 and staff from the unit are also in the process of being tested.
As of Saturday, no staff related to 6N have been identified as positive for COVID-19. The hospital said testing of both patients and staff will be repeated.
The confirmation of the outbreak on 6N follows the Thursday confirmation of an outbreak on the 4th floor North (4North) unit at Met campus by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
The outbreak followed the confirmation of six staff members who tested positive for the virus as well as two patients who were also confirmed positive. The hospital said, “while there is no evidence that either patient contracted the virus while in hospital, that cannot be completely ruled out.”
All staff and patients from the 4North unit have also been tested to determine any further spread on the unit.
"Outbreak prevention measures were already implemented by the hospital when the cluster was found and will remain in place. Ongoing testing of staff and patients has already been undertaken. Due to privacy considerations, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is unable to disclose publicly any further details about the cases or the number of close contacts at the hospitals," medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed said in a statement.
The 4N unit has 32 beds while 6N has a capacity for 36. Both are medical (non-surgical units) and combined account for about 10 per cent of Windsor Regional Hospital’s overall bed capacity.
The hospital said it is monitoring both units “very closely” and has already implemented “aggressive infection prevention and control measures.”
The same precautions have also been applied across both campuses and on all units. Whether symptomatic or not, all patients are being tested for COVID-19 before admission to the hospital, WRH said.
WRH will give updates on the outbreaks as more information becomes available.
