COVID-19 outbreak declared at Kingston General Hospital

Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) has declared a COVID-19 outbreak at its Kingston General Hospital (KGH) site involving five new cases of the virus.

KHSC made the announcement just after 5 p.m. on Monday, Jul 5, 2021, noting that the outbreak is on the Davies 5 unit at KGH. Currently, four patients and one staff member on that unit have contracted the virus and tested positive. The unit is now under quarantine and closed to all admissions and visitors. According to KHSC, Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (KFL&A) Public Health has been notified.

The Davies 5 unit is normally classified as a Medicine Short Stay Unit, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been used for patients that would normally be in Connell 3, a Transitional Support Unit. Connell 3, in turn, has been used as a temporary COVID-19 ward.

“The hospital’s infection prevention and control and occupational health teams are completing the necessary contact tracing and swabbing for individuals on the affected unit. Patients who have been discharged and who are deemed high risk are being contacted by Public Health and will be followed closely in the community,” KHSC said in a press release.

“Stepped-up housekeeping measures have been implemented on the unit, including extra cleaning of all high-touch surfaces and common areas.”

During this outbreak and quarantine, patient care services will continue as usual in all other areas of the KHSC hospital sites.

“Keeping our patients and staff safe is our top priority,” Elizabeth Bardon, COVID-19 Incident Commander at KHSC said in a statement. “We wish our staff member a speedy recovery and we are working with our colleagues at Public Health to investigate this outbreak. We thank our staff and community for working hard to prevent the spread of the virus, including being cooperative with our screening processes, masking requirements and visitor restrictions.”

KHSC said that members of the public who have symptoms of COVID-19 or concerns that they may have been exposed to the virus can seek testing at the COVID-19 Assessment Centre (Beechgrove Complex). Appointments for testing can be booked online at https://ygkcovidtesting.coconutcalendar.com/.

The Davies 5 unit was also the site of a COVID-19 outbreak just over a year ago.