Ten staff infected on COVID unit at Hamilton General

Hamilton study raises questions about whether workers should have higher level of protection

Ten workers on a unit that cares for COVID-19 patients at Hamilton General Hospital are now infected with the virus themselves.

The outbreak started with four ill workers when it was declared May 23 on the 8 West in-patient unit, which is reserved for those who have tested positive for COVID-19. In under two weeks, it spread to 10 workers as of Tuesday.

It’s the second time that workers on a Hamilton hospital unit that cares for COVID-19 patients have become ill with the virus.

St. Joseph’s Healthcare had two workers test positive on a COVID-19 unit in an outbreak declared April 24 that ended during the first week of May.

The hospital outbreak comes at the same time a study led by McMaster University researchers raises questions about whether health-care workers should have a higher level of protection from the virus.

Workers currently wear surgical masks on COVID-19 floors at Hamilton’s hospitals with N95 respirators used for invasive procedures.

“For health-care workers and administrators, our findings suggest that N95 respirators might be more strongly associated with protection from viral transmission than surgical masks,” states the study published Monday in The Lancet.

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton’s medical officer of health, says the equipment decisions are in the hands of the hospitals.

“The responsibility for reviewing that actually lies with the hospitals,” said Richardson. “Those are clearly occupational health and safety concerns and they do have their own infection, prevention and control teams that do all of that work.”

She said hospital staff watch each other put on personal protective equipment and take it off to make sure it’s done right. “What we want to make sure happens is that people do wear their infection, prevention and control equipment when they are looking after patients,” she said.

Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) said in a statement that its staff were “diligent and consistent” in their use of personal protective equipment.

As of May 25, HHS said the cause of the outbreak remained unclear.

The hospital outbreak is one of three that are ongoing in Hamilton. Aberdeen Gardens Retirement Residence on Dundurn Street South had one resident test positive.

Desmond and Peggy Little Retirement Residences on King Street East has one resident and two staff infected. The virus was found during testing for a prevalence study and neither of the two has symptoms.

Outbreaks were declared over Monday at Macassa Lodge on Upper Sherman Avenue and at Alexander Place in Waterdown.

“The responsibility for reviewing that actually lies with the hospitals.”

DR. ELIZABETH RICHARDSON HAMILTON’S MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH