Trois-Rivières: a worrying outbreak at the Regional University Affiliated Hospital Center

Health authorities are trying to stem a meteoric outbreak in one of the neurology units of the Center hospitalier affilié universitaire régional (CHAUR) in Trois-Rivières. Within days, 19 patients and 26 staff members were infected.

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The Integrated University Health and Social Services Center (CIUSSS) of Mauricie-et-du-Center-du-Québec has in particular prohibited visits to the unit, except for humanitarian reasons. Otherwise, every employee in the affected area is tested every three days.

The situation also affects ambulance transport. Patients suffering from cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) must currently be transported to the Center-de-la-Mauricie hospital in Shawinigan rather than in Trois-Rivières, and this situation could last for at least another week.

“We are on the way to finding what is at the origin. What we can say is that transmission is currently monitored and controlled, ”commented the regional director of public health for the region, the D^re Marie-Josée Godi.

Union representatives wonder about wearing personal protective equipment.

“Once again, the healthcare professionals on the floor get contaminated. You have to ask yourself the right questions. There really has to be an investigation into the matter, ”said the president of the Union of Healthcare Professionals of Mauricie and Center-du-Quebec, Nathalie Perron.

Pascal Bastarache, who represents paratechnical employees, for his part indicated that there was still a conflict with the employer about certain protective measures, in particular regarding the number of masks given to workers.

Forty-nine new cases of COVID-19 were added in Mauricie and Center-du-Québec on Wednesday, including 20 new cases in Trois-Rivières and six in Shawinigan.