A patient unit at Kingston General Hospital is under quarantine after a hospital staff member who works on the unit tested positive for COVID-19.
All of the patients on the unit have tested negative for the virus.
In a written statement, Kingston Health Sciences Centre president and CEO, Dr. David Pichora, said that the quarantine was implemented “out of an abundance of caution.”
“Since we now use universal masking on all patient units, we expected the risk of transmission to others would be low,” Pichora said in the written statement. “We’re taking all additional precautions to ensure there has been no spread of illness.”
The hospital unit will be closed to new admissions and visitors for 14 days.
A media release from KHSC said that all patients on the unit have been placed on contact/droplet precautions and are being closely monitored for signs or symptoms of COVID-19.
“KHSC’s infection control and occupational health teams are conducting contact tracing for patients and staff who came in contact with the confirmed case,” the release stated.
The staff member who tested positive is at home recovering in self-isolation.
“Keeping our patients and staff safe is our top priority,” Pichora said. “We wish our staff member a speedy recovery and we’re working with our colleagues at Public Health to investigate this case. We thank our staff and community for working hard to prevent the spread of the virus, including being co-operative with our screening processes, masking requirements and visitor restrictions.”
Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, or who believes they have been exposed to the virus, can be tested at the COVID-19 assessment centre at the Memorial Centre.
