The Moncton Hospital is now experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak in four units, with 21 patients testing positive for the virus, as well as five staff.
The Moncton Hospital’s executive director Christa Wheeler-Thorne told reporters today cases are “rolling in,” and the case count is expected to rise as testing continues.
Horizon said patient testing on outbreak units will continue this week, and staff testing remains ongoing.
“[A hospital outbreak is] like reading a book, so you read it a page at a time. And we’re sort of on page two or page three. How many pages does a book usually have? Well, the book usually has 28 pages, so we don’t declare an outbreak over until you have had no new cases for 28 days,” Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr. Gordon Dow, said during a virtual scrum.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the following units have confirmed the presence of COVID-19:
- Family medicine and palliative care unit (Unit 3600).
- Rehabilitation unit (Unit 4400) and family practice and geriatric unit (Unit 5100).
- Stroke and family medicine unit (Unit 4600).
These represent a quarter of the hospital’s inpatient units, according to Horizon.
The Moncton Hospital continues with surgeries, labour and birth services, ambulatory care and professional services, and the outbreaks have not caused any temporary service closures or interruptions.
“Just because we have four units in outbreak, does not mean that the hospital completely shuts down. We still will do everything we can to carry out as much of our daily work as we can,” Dow said.
Designated Support Persons (DSPs) have been suspended on outbreak units, with the exception of Palliative Care patients who meet a certain rating.
Wheeler-Thorne urged people to only visit the emergency department if there is a medical emergency.
