The Middlesex London Health Unit is recommending that there be no admissions to any medical floors at University Hospital for the next seven days.
The recommendation is one of five that the health unit is making after a COVID-19 outbreak that was declared on November 10 on the fourth floor medicine unit was expanded Tuesday to all medical floors at the hospital. According to the health unit, 10 of the 18 new COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday are linked to the outbreak. A total of 34 cases have been linked to the outbreak, 16 among hospital staff and 18 among patients. One death has also been linked.
The London Health Sciences Centre is also dealing with an outbreak on the ninth floor Orthopaedic unit, where six cases have been identified.
“The situation at University Hospital is alarming and additional measures are being implemented to ensure that more people don’t become sick,” said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Chris Mackie. “This is a reminder that COVID can and will strike anywhere if we let our guard down.”
The health unit said it is working with officials at the LHSC to determine why there is continued transmission of the virus and to see if there is more that can be done to stop the spread. It is recommending that admissions to all medical floors be discontinued for seven days, testing of all patients and staff on medical floors, mask use by all patients and staff on all medical floors at all times, ensuring that a majority of staff who are working on the fourth floor are not working elsewhere in the hospital, and quarantining for appropriate staff in order to prevent them from being in close contact with anyone in the community.
Last week, London Health Sciences Centre CEO Dr. Paul Woods sent an internal memo to staff, saying the spread of COVID-19 among employees of the hospital was "unacceptable, considering the infection control safety protocols and procedures LHSC has put in place over the past eight months." He added that he knows staff are tired, but the LHSC is obligated to make sure it can provide safe care to patients.