Toronto's SickKids Hospital declares coronavirus outbreak

Apr 29 2020, 1:06 pm

The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) has declared an outbreak of COVID-19.

On Tuesday evening, the hospital said the outbreak was related to the patient who was diagnosed with COVID-19 over the weekend.

The patient’s parents and a member of the patient’s clinical team have since tested positive for COVID-19.

According to the hospital, everyone who has been exposed or suspected to have been exposed has been notified.

“All patients on the affected unit have tested negative for COVID-19. Staff on the unit continue to be tested. SickKids and Toronto Public Health are actively investigating how the virus was transmitted,” said SickKids in a statement.

Additionally, on Tuesday morning, SickKids identified a second patient who was admitted and tested positive for COVID-19.

This case is unrelated to the outbreak on 8B and the patient is now in isolation, said the Hospital.

“While this is certainly not the kind of news we want to be sharing, the fact is we have been fortunate at SickKids thus far – these are our first positive inpatient cases since the pandemic started over six weeks ago,” says Dr. Ronald Cohn, President and CEO of SickKids.

“I have full and absolute confidence in our teams here at SickKids and in our ability to continue to provide the best possible care, while protecting the safety of our patients, families and staff.”

The hospital said that all urgent clinical care is continuing at SickKids and it continues to be “a very safe place for patients and families.”

DH Toronto StaffDH Toronto Staff

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