Hospitals expand use of personal safety gear

New protocols in place after a patient in COVID-19 treatment area infects St. Catharines staffer

Niagara Health has expanded use of safety gear in its hospitals after one of its health-care workers tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

As of Tuesday, anyone working in a patient care area in any Niagara Health facility — including support staff and custodians — are being issued medical-grade masks, said Derek McNally, Niagara Health’s executive vice-president of clinical services.

Previously, masks were issued to staff working in the COVID-19 “hot zone” at St. Catharines hospital, where all novel coronavirus patients requiring treatment are being cared for.

Masks will also be issued for staff in other areas of hospitals as well.

Staff in non-patient care areas, mostly administrative areas, who cannot maintain a safe two metres of physical distance can request a mask from managers. No request for a mask will be denied, McNally said.

“What that means is all staff and physicians in all the direct patient care areas will be provided with a surgical procedure mask every shift.”

The policy change is in response to a healthcare professional in a patient area who was not treating COVID-19 patients tested positive for the virus on April 11.

McNally said the source of the infection was a patient in St. Catharines hospital who showed no COVID-19 symptoms. When that patient did start showing signs of infection, a test was undertaken. When that test came back positive, staff were also tested and one of them was found to have the virus.

McNally said for privacy reasons, he could not say what the staff person’s job is other than that she is a “health-care professional,” and is in isolation at home for at least the next 14 days.

A health-care professional cannot return to work after being infected with COVID-19 until that two-week period has passed and two lab tests are negative for the virus.

She is one of five Niagara Health employees to test positive for COVID-19. The other four work in the St. Catharines hot zone.

When she tested positive on April 11, Niagara Health declared an outbreak in the area she was working in. An outbreak is declared when a staff member is confirmed to be infected.

On Tuesday evening, the hospital system declared a formal outbreak in the COVID-19 hot zone treatment area after a staff member tested positive for the virus.

“The unit in question will continue to admit patients with COVID-19 and has a number of enhanced safety measures already in place. Niagara Health will follow up with staff and physicians who may have had direct contact with the health-care worker as a precaution,” said McNally.

According to Niagara Region Public Health, of

the 263 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region 32, or about 12 per cent, are health-care workers. Most are connected to ongoing outbreaks in five longterm care and retirement homes, but a few are from other institutions including Niagara Health. McNally said these are “risky times for everyone,” but health-care workers on the COVID-19 front line are at increased risk of exposure to the potentially deadly virus.

According to Niagara Health data, there have been 66 COVID-19 patients treated at hospital. Twenty-eight people are still at hospital and 22 patients with the virus, including 17 Niagara residents, have died.

In addition to the expanded use of masks, McNally said Niagara Health is beefing up its daily screening of staff with the use of a new mobile device app.

“You basically answer a number of questions. As you answer the questions, then you’ll get a green light or a red light,” he said. “The red light says you need to leave, and then you’re

connected with the occupational health and safety team that will then make an appointment, and usually go to the assessment centre to be screened, or if you’re green you can proceed into work.”

McNally said new rules pertaining to the use of masks is a necessary step to protect hospital staff, but it was not certain what impact that will have on Niagara Health’s supplies of protective gear.

“I can’t really speculate specifically on what our numbers of supplies are, but I can tell you that every single day we monitor

the burn rate that we have in all of our (personal protective equipment),” he said. “Our situation, I think, like every other hospital, changes every single day. We have PPE on order. It might arrive, it might not, and I can tell you, currently, we have enough supplies to last us. I can’t really tell you for how many weeks or months or days.”

Staff are being told they cannot bring PPE into hospitals. McNally said equipment used by hospital staff must be of a standard that exceeds, for instance, homemade masks.