COVID-19 outbreak declared at Iroquois Falls hospital

Porcupine Health Unit in Timmins. Oct. 20/21 (Lydia Chubak/CTV Northern Ontario)

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The Porcupine Health Unit has declared an outbreak at the Anson General Hospital in Iroquois Falls and says it is working with the hospital to ensure the safety of its staff and patients.

The 54-bed facility services communities in the immediate area and provides both emergency and outpatient care.

"Affected individuals have been given individual guidance for monitoring, isolation and testing as appropriate," wrote PHU in a Jan.15 news release.

"The health unit will continue to work with the hospital setting to provide infection prevention and control assessments and support the implementation of enhanced public health measures as necessary."

PHU but did not disclose the number of positive cases or if the cases were among staff and, or patients. Public health officials have not confirmed if there are any patients in hospital with COVID-19 or due to COVID-19.

PHU reported 880 active cases Friday afternoon with another 40 added on Saturday.

Of those 40 new cases, 16 are being reported from Timmins, 11 from the James and Hudson Bay district, 5 from the Cochrane, Matheson, Iroquois Falls & Smooth Rock Falls area, 4 from Kapuskasing, Opasatika, Val Rita-Harty, Moonbeam & Fauquier-Strickland area, and 4 from the Hearst & Hornepayne region. 

It is not clear how many of the 5 reported from the Cochrane, Matheson, Iroquois Falls & Smooth Rock Falls area are related to the Anson General Hospital.

A hospital outbreak in Ontario is define as two or more laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases (patients and/or staff) within a specified area (unit/floor/service) within a 14-day period where both cases could have reasonably acquired their infection in the hospital.