WINGHAM, ONT. -- Seven staff members and three patients at the Listowel Memorial Hospital’s second floor Medicine Unit have contracted COVID-19.
Hospital CEO, Karl Ellis confirmed the outbreak Wednesday afternoon. Ellis says all the new cases have been reported this week.
All staff and physicians that have worked at the hospital since Dec. 11, are being requested to have a COVID test.
Admissions to the medicine unit are longer being accepted, and patients that require admission will either be taken care of on the first floor complex care unit, or be redirected to neighbouring hospitals.
Ellis says the COVID outbreak hasn’t led to any staff shortages yet, and that no patients will have be transferred to other hospitals, right now.
He says all emergency room visits, operations, x-rays, and specialist visits can can continue.
The Municipality of North Perth, which includes Listowel, has seen COVID cases triple in the past month.
Ellis says the hospital will remain in outbreak for at least the next 14 days. He’s hopeful they can get it under control.
“This is a very stealthy infection and has the ability, once it’s established itself, it takes some time to work through this. At minimum, we’ll be 14 days before this will be declared over, but that’s the minimum amount of time we’ll have to deal with the outbreak,” says Ellis.
A COVID outbreak at the Stratford General Hospital’s Medicine Unit that began on Dec. 4, infected seven staff. The hospital and health unit believe that outbreak is now, under control.
