St. Joseph's Health Centre reports COVID-19 outbreak in intensive care unit
1 patient, 2 staff test positive for disease caused by novel coronavirus, officials confirm
St. Joseph's Health Centre in Toronto's west end confirmed an outbreak Monday evening of COVID-19 in its intensive care unit. One patient and two staff members have tested positive, hospital officials say.
"In this case, a patient who had recently been in the ICU was confirmed positive for COVID-19 after developing a new respiratory illness while in hospital," officials with the centre said in a news release.
"Over the weekend, two staff who were in contact with this patient also tested positive. These staff are both doing well and are at home."
The hospital, located on The Queensway just west of Roncevalles Avenue, says it has implemented all outbreak precautions in its ICU.
"All patients who were in the ICU last week at the time that the patient was identified have been swabbed and results have come back negative."
St. Joseph's says as a precautionary measure, all ICU patients will be on what it calls "droplet precautions" for 14 days.
"Admissions to the ICU will continue from inpatient areas. At present, any patients coming to the Emergency Department requiring an ICU level of care will be transferred to another facility which will be reassessed daily as we monitor the situation."