COVID-19 outbreak declared at Thunder Bay's Shelter House
CBC
A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at a homeless shelter in Thunder Bay, Ont.
Four people associated with Shelter House Thunder Bay have tested positive, and found that transmission occurred within the facility on George Street, the Thunder Bay District Health Unit said Tuesday afternoon.
Health unit officials are working with Shelter House to manage the outbreak — the latest in the city as COVID-19 continues spreading. Another outbreak was reported at the Thunder Bay jail last week.
Across Canada, homeless shelters have become overwhelmed in recent days, as the Omicron wave sweeps through during the middle of the winter.
In Fort Frances, Riverside Health Care announced that a facility wide outbreak has been declared at La Verendrye General Hospital. Four patients in the hospital have tested positive.
The Thunder Bay-area health unit reported 93 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the active count to 310. The Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) added another 36 cases. Both health units said limited testing criteria means the reported case numbers are likely an underestimate.
In a media release, the NWHU advises people to prepare in the event of having to self-isolate. The health unit said that given high test positivity rates, it's likely many households will have to isolate over the coming days and weeks, and should stock up on essential items so they can do that safely.
As well, the number of patients in the Thunder Bay regional hospital spiked in the last 24 hours.
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre officials on Tuesday said there were 27 patients in the facility who had tested positive for the virus, with three in the intensive care unit.
That's eight more patients, including one more addition to the ICU, than from Monday's update.
Hospital officials said the surgical and medical patient capacity has exceeded 100 per cent, with ICU occupancy at nearly 82 per cent. Both represent increases from Monday.
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