Nearly 450 Quebec hospital staff members test positive for COVID-19

At least 443 staff members at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval hospital have tested positive for COVID-19.

In a phone call with Daily Hive, a representative at the Quebec City hospital said even before the outbreak, the network had opted to postpone half of its scheduled surgeries and medical appointments as of Wednesday.

Beyond the 443 staff members, another 400 employees at the hospital have gone into isolation.

Quebec City’s main hospital expects roughly 10,000 medical appointments will be rescheduled and will transfer about 50 nurses from surgeries to the hospital’s pandemic ward.

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The CHU de Québec-Université Laval says 10 of its 16 intensive care unit beds have been reserved exclusively for patients with COVID-19.

The hospital says a total of 783 of its healthcare workers are now in isolation in addition to the 600 nurses Quebec City is already missing from before the most recent wave of COVID-19.

At the end of November, the hospital banned visitors from entering the CHU de Québec-Université Laval.

The CHU de Québec-Université Laval says just 27 of the 48 surgical rooms will be available for the rest of the week.

On Monday, Quebec reported more than 15,000 new COVID-19 cases over a 24 hour period.