Nine COVID-19 infections in the Medical Inpatient Unit at Dawson Creek and District Hospital (DCDH) has led Northern Health to declare an outbreak.
The news comes following lab-confirmed cases among patients.
Testing is underway to identify any additional cases and enhanced outbreak control measures are in place at DCDH.
"Public health officials will be monitoring the situation carefully over coming weeks and will only declare the outbreak over when they are confident that chains of transmission have been stopped," the authority said in a release.
DCDH is now implementing enhanced precautions, including:
- Increased frequency of cleaning and infection control measures
- Enhanced symptom monitoring among all DCDH staff and patients
- Limiting movement of staff and patient between care areas of the hospital
There are now four facility outbreaks involving COVID-19 across Northern Health.
In addition to DCDH, Jubilee Lodge in Prince George has seen 16 residents die from the virus since its outbreak was declared Dec. 12 and there have been 62 lab-confirmed cases among 48 residents and 14 staff members, but none new since Jan. 13.
Nine people have died inside the COVID-19 outbreak at University Hospital of Northern BC's (UHNBC) Internal Medicine Unit, along with 33 cases detected among 21 patients and 12 staff.
Prince Rupert's Acropolis Manor has also seen nine deaths during its outbreak; 25 residents and 15 staff members have tested positive for the virus.
As of this publication, Northern Health has recorded 3,812 COVID-19 cases since March last year, which included 131 new infections from this past weekend.
Sadly, two more people in the region succumbed to the virus, raising the authority's death toll to 87.
There are also currently 411 active COVID-19 cases in the north, per the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), 11 people in critical care among 14 total hospitalizations, and 3,289 recoveries.
- with files from Kyle Balzer, PrinceGeorgeMatters
