Three inpatient units removed from GBGH COVID-19 outbreak
December 22, 2020 – Three of five inpatient units at Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) have been removed from the organization’s COVID-19 outbreak. 2 East, Obstetrics and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) are no longer considered to be part of the outbreak as there has been no transmission in these areas. This decision was made in consultation with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.
The outbreak was initially declared on the 2 North inpatient unit on December 4 and was then expanded to all inpatient units as a precaution on December 7.
“Soon after the outbreak was declared on the 2 North inpatient unit, we added all inpatient units as a precaution to monitor possible transmission beyond the initial cluster of cases,” says Dr. Dan Lee, chief of Emergency Medicine and COVID-19 medical lead, GBGH. “Now that we have confirmed no transmission in these areas, we have consulted with public health and it has been deemed safe to remove the ICU, 2 East and Obstetrics from the outbreak.”
All areas of the hospital will continue to maintain strict guidelines related to personal protective equipment (PPE), enhanced cleaning, and other infection prevention and control measures such as the masking of patients for any contact within two metres. All new admissions to the hospital will continue to be tested for COVID-19 and all patients are receiving care under the presumption of possibly being COVID-positive.
As of the end of day December 21, there have been the following cases related to the outbreak:
- 23 patient cases
- 12 remain admitted in hospital
- Eight discharged
- Three outbreak-related deaths
- 24 staff/credentialed staff cases
- One visitor related to the outbreak (high risk contact of a COVID positive patient during their period of communicability)
Statistics related to the outbreak are updated daily and can be found on the GBGH website – https://gbgh.on.ca/covid-19-novel-coronavirus-updates/
Contact:
Jennifer Moore
Communications Officer, GBGH
705-526-1300 ext 5177