A microbiologist performs a manual extraction of the coronavirus. (Photo by Tom Wolf from Flickr)A microbiologist performs a manual extraction of the coronavirus. (Photo by Tom Wolf from Flickr)
Chatham

New COVID-19 cases, nursing home cleared

The public health unit in Chatham-Kent is reporting seven new cases of COVID-19 and five recovered cases for a total of 85 active cases.

That's two more active cases than on Tuesday. Four local people with the virus are in the hospital recovering, one more person than on Monday. The death toll remains at two.

Meanwhile, Riverview Gardens Long-Term Care home in Chatham is reporting its residents are clear of COVID-19 after a contract worker attended the nursing home after catching the virus.

"We are pleased to say that we received negative COVID-19 test results for the residents who were in close contact with the service provider that we announced on July 24, 2020," said the facility on its Facebook page. "RVG remains COVID-19 free."

On July 24, Riverview Gardens announced it had a contracted service provider test positive for COVID-19. At the time, CK Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said the positive individual was in full PPE and had contact with a limited number of people during their visit to Riverview Gardens.

"Despite the low probability of transmission, considering the vulnerability of the population, we are exercising an abundance of caution in isolating all close contacts resulting from this visit," he said. "Contacts have no chance of passing the infection to others unless they become infected and we will monitor them carefully during their isolation period.”

All staff and visitors were asked to be vigilant in wearing masks and frequently washing hands, as the nursing home followed public health protocols.

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