COVID-19 outbreak at Kingston General Hospital rises to 9 active cases

There are now nine positive COVID-19 cases connected to the outbreak announced by Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) on Monday.

KHSC has confirmed six patients and three staff members have been associated with the outbreak on the Davies 5 unit of its Kingston General Hospital site.

The unit remains under quarantine and closed to admissions and visitors.

“In a situation like this, additional cases are not unexpected and we continue to monitor and take all appropriate precautions for the safety of patients, families and staff,” says Elizabeth Bardon, COVID-19 Incident Commander at KHSC.

A statement released by KHSC reads, “The hospital’s infection prevention and control and occupational health teams are conducting the necessary contact tracing and swabbing for individuals on the affected unit. This is an ongoing process that takes time as we monitor and investigate the outbreak.”

Bardon says that it’s still too early to know whether the outbreak has been isolated.

“We are still doing more investigation, and again, what we ask people to do is to be really mindful,” says Bardon. “Just make sure that we’re limiting any possible contagion to people who are particularly vulnerable.”

The hospital says stepped-up housekeeping measures have been implemented, including additional cleaning of all high-touch surfaces and common areas.

Patients who have been discharged and who are deemed high risk are being followed by Public Health in the community.

KHSC say patient care services continue as usual in all other areas of their hospital sites.