Facility-wide COVID-19 outbreak declared at Greater Niagara General Hospital
Dan Taekema | CBC News | Posted: December 29, 2020 2:04 PM | Last Updated: December 29, 2020
132 staff and patients have tested positive, 10 patients have died
A facility-wide outbreak has been declared at the Greater Niagara General Hospital after more than 100 people have tested positive for COVID-19.
Niagara Health announced the outbreak Monday following news three health care workers in the intensive care unit had the virus. Those cases marked the fifth outbreak at an inpatient unit at the hospital.
A total of 59 patients and 73 staff members there have been infected, according to the hospital. Ten patients who tested positive have died.
The hospital says it was caring for 21 people with COVID-19 on site as of Monday.
Derek McNally, executive vice president of clinical services and chief nursing executive for Niagara Health, said staff are working closely with infectious disease specialists and public health officials.
"We are taking all appropriate steps across the site to decrease the risk of the spread of this highly contagious virus," he said in a media release.
"As a result of the facility-wide outbreak, we are unable to permit visitors on site with exceptions for compassionate reasons only, and these visits must be approved in advance with our care team."
Despite the outbreak, Niagara Health says the hospital's emergency department remains open.
There were 138 new cases of COVID-19 in Niagara on Tuesday, raising the total number the region has seen during the pandemic to 3,753.
Of those, 847 were active, while 2,785 were resolved.
Twenty-three outbreaks are ongoing and 121 people who had the virus have died.
Six Nations
There were five active cases of COVID-19 on Six Nations of the Grand River territory as of Monday.
One person who had the virus has died during the pandemic.
All of the other 100 cases Six Nations has recorded are resolved.
Halton
Halton added 108 new cases of the virus Tuesday for a total of 5,745 (both confirmed and probable) so far.
Twenty-seven of those new cases were in Burlington.
The region reports that 556 people have the virus, while 5,082 cases are resolved.
There are 21 open outbreaks and 107 people infected with COVID-19 have died.
Haldimand-Norfolk
Seven more cases of COVID-19 were reported in Haldimand and Norfolk on Monday.
The counties have recorded 874 positive cases, including 80 that are active and 755 that were recovered.
Thirty-four deaths in the area are considered COVID-related.
Officials announced Tuesday that an outbreak has been declared at Delhi Long Term Care Centre after a staff member there tested positive.
Public health staff are working with the facility to set up an outbreak management plan.
Brant
Brant and Branford have seen 29 new cases in the past 24 hours, according to an update from the county's health unit Tuesday.
A total of 855 confirmed cases have been tallied throughout the pandemic. Of those, 692 are resolved and 158 active.
Five people who had contracted the virus have died.