The Grey Bruce Health Unit is working with the Grey Bruce Health Services to address cases of COVID-19 associated with four patients in the hospital. This outbreak is reflected on the Public Health website.

The outbreak is contained to one floor. Public Health measures are in place to mitigate the risk of transmission, including lockdown and visitor restrictions. There is no additional risk to the public.

Public Health is the lead in all outbreaks and case management. Public Health will let you know if you are a close contact with someone who has COVID-19, based on a thorough risk assessment completed only by Public Health.

Those who tested positive have been contacted directly by our COVID-19 Case and Contact Management Team. We are working with the cases and the hospital to identify others, both in and out of the work environment, who may have been exposed and to determine their risk level.

Determining who is a close contact is a decision that can only be made by Public Health. A Public Health case manager will contact anyone identified as a contact to the confirmed cases, both in and outside of the hospital environment. Those at risk of infection will be contacted within 24 hours of the investigation.

Anyone NOT contacted by Public Health is not considered at risk and need not take any additional steps including asymptomatic testing.

The Grey Bruce Health Unit will direct staff and patients in the hospital to test as required. Those considered at risk outside of the work environment, will be directed to testing within their local assessment centre, or other feasible location on the appropriate and recommended date(s).

There is no value in anyone being tested ahead of being notified and instructed to do so by Public Health as results would be unreliable and would put individuals at risk of more testing than is required.

All contact tracing and determination of individual and community risk is made by Public Health. This is true of all cases, whether in hospital, workplaces or the community. A health care provider or workplace official cannot make this decision.

source: Grey Bruce Public Health