‘We still have to be careful’: COVID-19 outbreak hits Verdun Hospital

Article content

Verdun Hospital was hit by a COVID-19 outbreak this week that infected 12 elderly patients and three staff members.

Article content

Most of the patients are recovering with mild symptoms, but one has been transferred to intensive care, according to Jean Nicolas Aubé, spokesman for the CIUSSS du Center-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal health authority.

The outbreak began Monday, with a patient in the fourth floor south ward, who manages geriatric patients, testing positive. By Tuesday, the number of infected had risen to eight patients and a health worker. As of Friday, a total of 12 patients and three members of the hospital staff had been infected.

Since then, three of the patients have been discharged and the rest are being treated in the COVID-19 hot zone of the hospital. None of the hospital staff had to be hospitalized for the virus.

Article content

The vast majority of those infected were twice vaccinated, Aubé said, but exact numbers were not available. All hospital staff and volunteers are being screened for COVID-19 and safety protocols are being followed.

“The hospital is safe,” Aubé said. “We were the hospital that treated the first COVID-19 case in Quebec, so we have a lot of experience handling cases. But it shows that COVID is still here even if the number of cases has dropped. The virus spreads rapidly, so we still have to be very careful. “

The fact that most of those infected suffered only minor symptoms indicates that vaccines are protecting the population from more serious diseases, he said. It is likely that all of the cases involved the Delta variant of the virus, which is prevalent in Montreal.

Article content

“I would hate to think what this outbreak could have led to if people weren’t vaccinated,” he said.

It is the first outbreak at the hospital since Sept. 17, when four patients became infected. The last major outbreak at Verdun Hospital dates back to March 10, during the height of the third wave, when 24 patients fell ill.

As of October 26, the Montreal public health department listed 102 COVID-19 outbreaks. Only one was in a hospital. Most were in schools (45%), workplaces (26%), and daycare centers (13%).

[email protected]