gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
Alberta Health Services says there are currently no COVID outbreaks in hospitals in the south zone, but visitation restrictions remain in place.
On Nov. 26 there was one patient in geriatric acute care at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital who tested positive for COVID-19 but there have been no others, said a spokesperson for AHS on Tuesday.
“We currently do not have any acute-care outbreaks in the South. The one at MHRH was held strictly to the one patient.”
In November, Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge and Big Country Hospital in Oyen were also dealing with outbreaks. Those have concluded over and there are none in the south zone at the moment.
Even though the outbreaks are over, visitation restrictions at hospitals remain in place.
In late November when the visitation restrictions were announced, AHS said it had nothing to do with the outbreaks but rather the growing number of cases of COVID in the community.
“Given the current transmission rates in Alberta, and the need to ensure the safety of patients, families and staff, Alberta Health Services is not able to accommodate additional designated support persons and/or visitors beyond what is outlined in the current guidance,” said the AHS spokesperson at the time. “AHS South Zone has made the difficult decision to limit designated family/support and visitation at all health-care facilities, zone wide. This decision was not made lightly. We must continue to do all we can to protect our patients and the staff caring for them.”
Additional information about visitor restrictions, particularly over the Christmas season, are available online.
https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/ppih/if-ppih-covid-19-holiday-season-family-support-visitation-FAQ.pdf
