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Kitchener hospital announces 2nd active COVID-19 outbreak

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St. Mary’s General Hospital now has a second active COVID-19 outbreak inside the building.

The hospital announced a new outbreak on its fifth floor involving two patients and an employee on Sunday.

It says measures were put in place on Saturday when an investigation into a potential outbreak on the fifth floor got underway.

SMGH says it has closed the floor to new admissions and temporarily stopped partner visits with the exception of patients in palliative care.

There is also an outbreak on the sixth floor of the hospital, which was initially declared on Dec. 6.

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The hospital says one patient has died as a result of the outbreak, while 12 others and six staff members have also tested positive for the coronavirus.

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It says a potential outbreak was also investigated on the seventh floor but it was not deemed as such.

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On Friday, an outbreak was also declared in Cambridge Memorial Hospital’s Medicine A Unit.

The hospital says three staff members have tested positive over the previous week but now patients have.

“Our priority is to contain the risk of infection spreading through the unit and to other areas of the hospital. The safety of our staff, physicians and patients is our primary concern,” CMH’s director of medical programs Kim Siegel said in a statement.

There are currently visitor restrictions on the unit.

The following day, CMH declared an outbreak in its Medicine C Unit to be over.

It that seven patients, two staff employees and a visitor caught the virus in connection to the outbreak, which began on Nov. 13.

There are also currently two other active outbreaks at Kitchener’s Grand River Hospital, which began on Nov. 26 and Dec. 27, respectively.

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