The COVID-19 outbreak at the Barrie Memorial Hospital in Ormstown that started during the first week of December has now reached a total of 48 confirmed infections, including 17 patients and 31 employees. The outbreak, which started on the third floor, has been evolving quickly, confirms Jade St-Jean, the senior advisor, external communications, media and ministerial relations for the CISSSMO.
According to St-Jean, an infection prevention and control team has been deployed to the hospital since the start of the outbreak, and a number of measures have and continue to be in place including systemic testing on a regular basis. “Admissions to the hospital have been stopped for the foreseeable future,” says St-Jean, who states that an epidemiologic investigation of the outbreak is also underway. “The situation is being followed very closely and infection prevention and control measures are being rigorously applied,” she adds.
All of the patients who have tested positive for the virus have been transferred from Ormstown to the COVID-19 ward at the Anna Laberge Hospital in Châteauguay.
At a press conference on Friday, Québec health minister Christian Dubé announced that the Anna Laberge Hospital was among ten hospitals across the province where the situation has reached a “critical stage.” According to Dubé, the hospitals on the list, which also included the Pierre-Boucher Hospital in Longueil and the Lakeshore General Hospital in Pointe-Claire, may soon have no choice but to cut back on other medical services if the situation does not improve. Dubé suggested that while space is running out in hospitals, medical staff are also being worn down. “Our health-care network and our staff cannot afford a surge in cases after the holidays. If we continue like this, we will exceed our capacity.”
Between Dec. 10-16, the number of cases in the Haut-Saint-Laurent increased by 38. The number of active cases in the region includes 6 individuals in Hinchinbrooke, 13 in Huntingdon and 15 in Ormstown. During this same period, there were 18 new infections recorded in the MRC des Jardins-de-Napierville, 28 in the MRC de Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, 166 in the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges, and 269 in the MRC de Roussillon.