Total of three COVID-19 outbreaks in Belleville, Trenton hospitals - County Weekly News

Author of the article:

Luke Hendry

Four Quinte Health Care units in Belleville and Trenton, including the rehabilitation unit in Belleville’s Sills wing, above, had outbreaks of COVID-19 as of Monday afternoon. Photo by Luke Hendry

Four outbreaks of COVID-19 were active at Quinte Health Care’s hospitals in Belleville and Trenton as of Monday.

There were three outbreaks of COVID-19 at Belleville General Hospital plus one more at Trenton Memorial Hospital.

The latest was in Belleville’s Sills 3 rehabilitation unit, Quinte Health Care president and chief executive officer Stacey Daub told The Intelligencer.

Exact numbers were not immediately available, but the outbreaks involved at least 17 staff; the total number of patients affected remained unclear as of Monday’s deadline.

One Trenton patient tested positive but a second test’s result was negative. The positive test was included in the outbreak’s total number of cases, QHC spokesperson Carly Baxter wrote via e-mail.

Three patients on Sills 3 were in isolation but it wasn’t yet known where they had contracted the virus, she added. The investigation continued and it was not yet known if the cases were considered to be part of the outbreak, Baxter wrote.

Across QHC, 35 staff had tested positive for COVID-19 and were off work but most were unrelated to outbreaks, Daub said in a telephone interview. She added there were more symptomatic staff off work, but the number was not available.

“Our outbreaks right now are all … from community transmission,” Daub said.

“I truly feel a lot of the outbreaks are related to surveillance swabbing.”

She said such testing of personnel was likely “picking up people who have had COVID or currently have COVID – Omicron (variant) – but with no symptoms.”

There were more than 1,000 cases active in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties as of Friday, the last date on which local public health statistics were released.

The first outbreak in months was announced Friday and affected Belleville Genera’s emergency department. As of Monday it involved four staff cases and no patients, she said.

Staff on Sunday announced via the QHC website two more outbreaks involving seven staff at Belleville General’s Quinte 7 maternal-child care unit and two more in Trenton Memorial Hospital’s inpatient unit. Each outbreak had been declared that day.

For an outbreak to be declared, at least two cases – either patients or staff – must be recorded in a given work area within 14 days, with a reasonable possibility that at least one case was acquired in the hospital.

While some of the Quinte 7 cases “can be traced back to community exposure, some of the positive staff members worked together on recent shifts. This constitutes an outbreak,” the website states.

“Contact tracing is underway. Staff and physicians on the unit are being tested for COVID-19 for surveillance reasons.

“Patients who were on the unit during dates of potential exposure are being contacted and advised to monitor for symptoms, self-isolate if unvaccinated, limit contacts if vaccinated, and seek testing if symptoms develop (if eligible),” the statement reads.

“Care partners on Quinte 7 will continue to be COVID swabbed every 48 hours, and patients will continue to be COVID swabbed on admission.” The corporation does not currently allow patients to have social visitors but does permit care partners – loved ones designated by patients who provide key support and advocacy for them.

Trenton’s inpatient unit is now an exception to that rule. No care partners are being permitted unless a patient is receiving end-of-life care.

Both workers who tested positive “had outside exposure to community cases, however one patient also tested positive during surveillance swabbing so this is deemed an outbreak,” the website states.

In addition to contact tracing, patients, staff and doctors are being tested for surveillance reasons, it adds.

An outbreak of COVID-19 was also declared Dec. 30 in BGH’s emergency unit. That outbreak is also limited to staff and all are self-isolating at home.

“We wish them a fast and full recovery,” the website adds.

“The Belleville General Hospital emergency department is still a safe place to visit,” it states.

“Please do not delay seeking the emergency care you require.”

Daub said those coming to emergency departments should be prepared for long waits given the number of patients now being seen there. She encouraged those who did not need actual emergency care to consider getting care elsewhere. Options include as from a primary-care provider (i.e. family doctor or nurse practitioner), walk-in clinics, calling Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000. The Ontario Virtual Care Clinic, however, closed Dec. 8, citing “the high volume of primary care providers now offering safe, in-person office visits or virtual care alternatives” at the time.