Jewish General Hospital contending with COVID-19 outbreak

The Jewish General Hospital in Montreal is dealing with two separate instances of patient transmission of COVID-19, but the regional health authority says both situations are under control.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the CIUSSSCentre-Ouest Montral,the regional health board which oversees the Jewish General (JGH),said the outbreaks are localized to specific areas of the hospital.

Recently, some hospital staff weredispatched to work at long-term care homes facing outbreaks, but spokesperson Carl Thriault said the transmission inside the hospital is unrelated to the transfer of staff.

"None of these events were triggered by sick health-care workers," said Thriault.

He declined to say where in the hospital the outbreaks occurred, or how many patients are affected, saying the information is confidential.

However, a source inside the hospital said one of the two outbreaks was onthe geriatric ward.

The JGH, one of several hospitals designated to treat people stricken COVID-19,is just the latest hospital to experience an outbreak.

There have also been outbreaks at the Lakeshore General, Verdun, Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Santa-Cabrini and Sacr-Coeur hospitals.

Maisonneuve-Rosemont, a hospital in Montreal's east end, has been overwhelmed by the disease, prompting doctors to cancel all surgeries requiring hospitalization this week.

Douglas, Pierre Boucherlatest to report infections

Patients and staff of theDouglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal have also tested positive for COVID-19.

A total of 16 patients and 22 employees have the disease, according to Guillaume Brub, aspokesperson for the the CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'le-de-Montral, which administers the Douglas.

The CIUSSS has been applying all appropriate safety measures at the institute, he said, and will bescreening all patients and staff in the coming days.

Meanwhile, on Montreal's South Shore, public health authorities are investigating an outbreak inPierre-Boucher hospital after 11 patients outside of hot zones tested positive for COVID-19. Two of those patients were already in intensive care when they contracted the disease.