COVID outbreaks hit units at CRH

By Gillian Slade on March 23, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDGslade@abnewsgroup.com

There are now two units at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge with outbreaks of COVID, according to the latest information on Alberta Health’s website.
The most recent acute care outbreak was declared on Wednesday, March 17, with one patient testing positive in one unit of the hospital.
Previously, on Feb. 28 a patient in another unit at the hospital also tested positive and an outbreak was declared.
The criteria for declaring an outbreak depends on where it is happening.
Alberta Health’s website site states:
Acute care – hospitals and continuing care facilities, including group homes, are reported publicly when there are two or more cases, indicating that a transmission within the facility has occurred.
“Outbreaks at acute care facilities are reported once there are two positive cases, however outbreak protocols are implemented as soon as a single case is identified in residents or staff. This is a precautionary measure,” said Sherene Khaw spokesperson for Alberta Health.
At prisons, correctional facilities, shelters and child care settings the threshold is five or more cases.
Non-healthcare workplaces, events, public settings, restaurants, salons, gyms and sports activities are listed when there are 10 or more cases.
Alberta Health’s website says that outbreaks are declared over four weeks after the last case at a facility was identified.
The Alberta Health website lists outbreak information by zone.
The information is updated on Tuesdays and Fridays each week, but does not provide details on the number of positive cases “because they change rapidly and often”.
https://www.alberta.ca/covid-19-alberta-data.aspx

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