The COVID-19 outbreaks continue at the Chatham hospital and Fairfield Park Nursing Home.
The outbreak in the hospital's COVID-19 Unit was declared on Wednesday and the outbreak in the Medical Unit was declared on Friday. The health unit in Chatham-Kent reported on Monday there are 14 total cases in the Medicine Unit and two total cases in the COVID-19 Unit.
Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) CEO Lori Marshall told reporters during a media update on Monday that 10 hospital staff are off due to the hospital outbreaks and a total of 30 staff are isolating because of possibly being in close contact to a positive case.
She said the hospital is coping with the loss of 30 staff the best way it can and is looking to divert some outpatient rehabilitation services to other locations in the area to free-up some staff for in-patient services. She added vacations are also on hold for now.
Marshall said there are 10 COVID-19 patients in the Chatham hospital with two in the Intensive Care Unit, including one on a ventilator. Marshall said six of the 10 COVID-19 patients are non-Chatham-Kent residents. Marshall said all staff and patients are being swabbed but the results haven't returned yet.
She also said housekeeping and cleaning at the hospital have been ramped up to deal with the outbreaks. Marshall said there's a new disinfecting spray being used in the rooms. CKHA has also switched from goggles to full face shields for staff in direct contact with patients, according to Marshall.
Marshall said sick time is up at CKHA but she's not certain if it's related to the stress caused by COVID-19.
"I can't say for sure if sick time is directly attributed to stress but what I can say is our sick time has been elevated through the pandemic and we anticipate that would be one of the causes," said Marshall.
Marshall added the hospital is focused on supporting staff with their mental health and has provided and continues to provide help.
Meantime, the outbreak at Fairfield Park Nursing Home in Wallaceburg keeps getting bigger. The home now has 55 total cases among staff and residents, according to CK Public Health, up from 31 on Friday. Marshall said more staff have been added to help with the Fairfield outbreak, including a patient care manager this week.
CK Public Health reported 55 new cases overall on Monday and 33 resolved cases for a total of 136 active cases, an increase of 22 from Friday. Officials with the local health unit also report two workplace outbreaks and two in congregate living are over.
That brings the number of workplace outbreaks down to two and outbreaks in congregate living down to one. The outbreaks at the Lambton-Kent Composite School in Dresden continues as do the outbreaks at Tilbury Manor Nursing Home and Meadow Park Nursing Home in Chatham.
