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COVID-19 outbreak hits second ward at Lions Gate Hospital

An outbreak of COVID-19 at Lions Gate Hospital is continuing in a second ward of the hospital while a different ward where cases were first reported has been taken off the active outbreak list.
Lions Gate Hospital

An outbreak of COVID-19 at Lions Gate Hospital is continuing in a second ward of the hospital while a different ward where cases were first reported has been taken off the active outbreak list.

Either staff or patients have now tested positive for COVID-19 on the seventh floor of the hospital, which includes a neurological care unit dealing with brain illnesses and injuries.

Meanwhile, the sixth floor of the hospital – where infection control measures were put in place April 22 after tests for the virus came back positive – has been taken off the active outbreak list.

As of Tuesday morning, there had been 26 cases of COVID-19 reported in the two wards of Lions Gate Hospital, including 13 patients and 13 staff.

The vast majority were in the sixth-floor ward, where the number of patients and staff testing positive had stood at 21 last Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health.

Patients who test positive while in hospital are being moved to the special COVID-19 ward on the second floor of the hospital.

According to Vancouver Coastal Health, stepped-up infection control measures on the affected wards have included restricting staff from working on other hospital wards or in other health-care facilities and requiring staff to wear personal protective equipment, including masks and gloves, for all patient interactions.

The latest information about the hospital outbreak comes as Lions Gate is gearing up to restart some elective surgeries at the hospital beginning in the next month.

One staff member who works at Evergreen House – a 284-bed long-term care facility adjacent to Lions Gate – has also tested positive for the virus. Only one part of the care home - 1 South - is currently affected, according to Vancouver Coastal Health information.

So far no residents at the care home have tested positive for the virus.