Maimonides shuts down crowded hot zone, transfers COVID-19 patients to hospitals

TheMaimonides Geriatric Centre transferredmost of its patients withCOVID-19 to local hospitals on Sunday in an effort to contain an outbreak that has already killed 10 people.

Public health authoritiesdecided on Saturday to move 20 coronaviruspatients offsite after growing concernthat a cramped and poorly ventilated ward was contributing to the outbreak.

Two patients, whose conditions are more severe, are going tothe Jewish General Hospital and 18 less severe cases will go toHtel-Dieu de Montral.Ten other patientswho are recovering from infections will remainat Maimonides.

Patient attendants and nurses from the facility will accompany the infected residents to hospital.

The number of COVID-19 infections atMaimonideshas jumped dramatically since the beginning of the month.

Roughlya dozen staff members have also tested positive, despite taking the required safety precautions, health officials said.

That raised suspicions about air circulation inthe ward where COVID-19 patients are treated, which has become crowded as the outbreak worsened.

"We think that if we put too many acute cases together in the same area on one floor, it is possible that the ventilation is not strong enough to ventilate properly,"saidFrancine Dupuis, the associateCEO of the health authority that overseesMaimonides.

Dupuis added it was possible the outbreakat Maimonideswill lead to new public health guidelines for long-term care homes, namely that they shouldavoidgrouping manyCOVID-19 patients together in small spaces.

"These are nursing homes they were not built for acute care," she said.

Families remain concerned

The milder cases, who were sent toHtel-Dieu,are expected to return toMaimonideswithin eight to 10days.

"When they are considered rehabilitated they can go back to their residence," Dupuis said.

But an advocacy group for families of residents at Maimonidessays health authorities still need to do more to contain the outbreak at the facility.

They are calling for all staff members to be tested for the virus. The group is also concerned about low staffing levels and a shortage of N95 surgical masks.

"We're not out of the woods because there are issues that are not being addressed yet," said Joyce Shanks, a spokesperson for the advocacy group and whosefather is a resident at the facility.

Since the beginning of the second wave, 10 people have died of COVID-19 at Maimonides, according to the latest figures provided by the Quebec government.

Last week, a staff member atMaimonidestold CBC Montreal that nurses were being instructed to work in both hot zones and non-COVID wards ("cold zones").

The provincial government has tried to limit the number of health-care staff who work in both hot zonesand cold zones as the practise was blamed for hundreds of deadly outbreaks inlong-term care homes this spring.

Regional health officials denied the nurse's allegation.