A health official from a Vancouver hospital system said he did not know how COVID-19 spread from one patient to another 29 people, including 18 additional patients, and that the hospital did not have a more transmissible form of the coronavirus can not exclude.
The cause of the December outbreak at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center is still being investigated. But dr. Lawrence Neville, chief medical center for the PeaceHealth Columbia Network, said Monday that the COVID-19 group from the Vancouver hospital can be traced back to one patient who initially tested negative when he was admitted to the hospital, only to be positive days later to test.
“It’s an unfortunate deviation that it took place,” Neville said during a news conference with reporters.
Patients who are admitted and tested negative for the virus do not have to wear masks, but are encouraged to do so, Neville said, and the patient in question wore a mask.
It is unclear how many of the other infected patients did not wear masks, but Neville said the hospital is doubling down and intensifying its efforts to increase mask compliance. Neville did not say specifically what it entails, and it does not appear that masks are necessary for all patients. Vaccines are also not needed for employees.
He said the outbreak is indicative of how common the disease is in Vancouver and the surrounding community. Clark County reported 976 active cases and 13,692 known cases in the entire pandemic as of Monday. Neville said the Vancouver Hospital in PeaceHealth has a record of 56 COVID patients, with eight of those receiving intensive care.
The hospital only took note of the positive test for the patient in the middle of the outbreak on 27 December. The next day, two other patients in the medical ward were tested asymptomatic but positive for the virus. Officials closed the ward a day later for all new patients and each COVID-positive patient was moved to another ward.
“We tested all the patients in the hospital just to make sure the problem was for this unit only,” Neville said. “
Initial figures released by the hospital last week indicated that 30 patients tested positive, but Neville said the information was inaccurate, and that the patients as well as staff were included.
As of Monday, 56 health workers remained in quarantine as a precautionary measure due to the 11 confirmed cases among staff. Neville said some of the infected workers had already received their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
PeaceHealth said it had submitted samples on Monday to determine whether the COVID-19 was a mutated form of the virus, which had been seen in several states and which prompted the UK to issue a new wave of locks .
Neville said it was “not impossible” that the outbreak could be linked to the more transmissible form of the virus, but said the same prevention strategies of hand washing, personal protective equipment and limited social interactions apply.
He said the results for another ten to 14 days on the genomic sequence would not be known to see if Washington had documented the rapidly spreading COVID variant elsewhere.
The initial patient, who was first tested negative, was admitted to the hospital due to a medical necessity, according to Neville, not an elective surgery. The hospital has since further restricted its operations and closed the infected deep cleaning ward from 1 January.
Neville said the 19 patients and 11 infected workers were “doing well” and said he had not been aware of anyone in the group since Sunday.
Oregon had its share of hospital outbreaks, including 29 cases at Providence Portland Medical Center, with the most recent case on Christmas Day. Other workplace outbreaks at Oregon Medical Centers include Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg (61), McKenzie Willamette Medical Center in Springfield (33) and others.
– Andrew Theen; [email protected]; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen