The death toll and COVID-19 cases at Delta Hospital continue to rise.
On Monday afternoon, Fraser Health officials provided media with an update on the number of cases at the hospital since the health authority declared the outbreak on Sept. 16. There are now 18 patients and 17 staff that have been infected and seven patients have died.
Fraser Health’s interim chief medical health officer and vice-president Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin told media that all 18 patients became infected while in hospital, but some of the 17 staff who also tested positive were exposed to the virus in the community.
Due to the ongoing infections, Fraser Health has chosen to close Delta Hospital to new admissions. Fraser Health provided news of the hospital closure in an earlier Monday media advisory.
“In order to ensure that admitted patients who are the most vulnerable are as safe as possible, we are closing the site to further admissions at this time,” Brodkin said.
Brodkin said that if a patient needs admission to hospital, they will be transported to an appropriate hospital within the Fraser Health network. Despite not accepting patients, the hospital’s emergency department remains open and all scheduled surgeries will continue.
All infections to patients have taken place on the second floor medicine unit and have been contained there, she said.
She also mentioned those who died from the virus were almost entirely older patients who had other health conditions prior to being exposed to COVID-19.
“We appreciate this has been a very difficult time for everyone, the patients themselves and their families and acknowledge that it has been a tough go,” Brodkin said.
Fraser Health says enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place in the beginning of the outbreak are ongoing. All appropriate staff, medical staff and patients are being tested. In addition, contact tracing is being carried out to prevent further transmission. The essential visitor’s policy is still being strictly enforced.
During Monday’s provincial COVID-19 update, Medical Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry was asked specifically about the outbreak at Delta Hospital.
“It is a very challenging outbreak,” Henry said. “Like often happens it is unrecognized cases that spread that cause the biggest challenge in our health care system and we have seen this in some of our other facilities as well. There is a number of different factors that have led to the spread at Delta Hospital, and tragically it has involved seven people who have died.
“There is ongoing transmission that happened in a number of different settings to health care workers and between health care workers, so that is something that Fraser Health is working closely with Delta Hospital on. It is a very challenging outbreak for sure.”
Henry said the closure of the hospital to new admissions to protect patients is the most effective way to stop exposure.
“We want to reduce the number of people that are in the facility, so the potential of exposure is reduced, but I think the other important thing to recognize is that there’s been quite a few health care workers who have been exposed as well many are off and self-isolating because of those exposures. This is something we have seen in other health care settings - that PPE is worn appropriately in patient care areas, but sometimes we are not as good as keeping that up in an office setting or a staff-only setting.”
-with files from Ian Jacques
