Two departments of Sept-El Hospital, on the North Shore, are experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak.
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Public Health has already confirmed seven cases, distributed among patients and health care workers, in the hospitalization unit and the short-term hospice care unit.
The process of screening and cognitive investigation was initiated by Public Health, which has not yet been able to reveal whether workers or patients have been appropriately vaccinated, for reasons of confidentiality.
Also, how the virus penetrated the hospital is still unknown, and until further notice, visits in these departments have been suspended.
Six outbreaks are active in the Côte-Nord region.
The Sabbath Rivier MRC has two, one in the hospital and one in the workplace, while the Kanyapesau MRC reports four, all on the premises.
Some of these cases are not accounted for in the regional balance sheet, as they are residents from outside the region.
With the increase in cases, a new protocol for managing entries in isolated areas, targeting in particular the Lower North Shore, Anticosti and Canyabiskau, will be implemented from next week.
“People who come to go to the chalet or go to the outfitters are not affected by this entry management protocol. These are public health recommendations. It’s done on a voluntary basis,” explained Dr. Richard Fishon, North Shore’s director of public health.
This protocol affects populations aged 5 to 11 years and people 12 years of age and older who have not been fully immunized.
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