SUNDRE — The COVID-19 outbreak status declared late in August at Myron Thompson Health Centre was recently declared over.
“The outbreak was declared on August 27 after two staff members were confirmed COVID positive,” Alberta Health Services (AHS) wrote by email in response to questions.
“Subsequently, four other staff members tested positive for COVID.”
However, the outbreak was eventually declared over on Sept. 10, AHS reported.
All of the identified cases were from staff.
“All long-term care residents and acute care patients were prevalence swabbed three times during the outbreak and were negative.”
The first two staff members to test positive were initially identified on Aug. 26. Then, over the course of Aug. 29-30, three other staff members also tested positive.
“They were both hospital-acquired and community-acquired cases.”
Asked where in the health centre the confirmed cases were identified, AHS said, “It was considered a facility-wide outbreak.”
The facility has 14 acute care beds, which “are for the provision of care for individuals who are in hospital for surgery or other procedures, labour and delivery, and treatment for injury, disease and physical or mental illness.”
During the course of the outbreak, the facility underwent enhanced disinfecting and cleaning, while admissions and visitations to acute care were paused.
“Designated support persons were able to continue to visit long-term care residents, providing they screened before visiting and wore a mask at all times.”
And of course members of the health-care team are required to wear personal protective equipment, including continuous masking and eye protection.
None of those who tested positive ended up being hospitalized or going to intensive care.
A confirmed COVID-19 acute care outbreak is officially defined as any instance when either one or more confirmed hospital-acquired patient case(s) or two or more confirmed cases in health-care workers are identified within a 14-day time period “and where at least one of the health-care workers was in the work place during the communicable phase of illness and/or it is suspected there has been work site transmission as cause for one or more of the infections,” AHS said.
“An outbreak can be declared over after 14 days from the last date a health-care worker was in the communicable phase of illness on the unit and there are no new cases in patients or healthcare workers.”
