Outbreak declared at St. Joe’s after four support staff workers test positive for COVID-19

An outbreak was declared at St. Joseph's West 5th Campus Friday, after four support staff workers tested positive for COVID-19.

According to St. Joe's spokesperson Elaine Mitropoulos, the employees are from a third-party organization that provides essential service, such as cleaning" at the facility, and do not provide patient care.

She told the Spectator that the four employees are isolating at home, contact tracing through Hamilton public health is taking place, and service at the West 5th campus has not been affected.

As of Friday night, there were 12 ongoing outbreaks within the city's hospitals - eight at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and four at St. Joe's - with a total of 220 cases, 109 of them in patients.

There are 11 deaths linked to the current outbreaks.

The joint satellite health facility at 150 King St. E. has one of the largest outbreaks, with three separate floors affected - two of them operated are by HHS and one by St. Joe's. In total, there are 103 cases at the facility - 54 of them in patients.

Since the start of December 2020, there have been 20 total hospital outbreaks with 347 cases and 20 deaths.

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com