Staff at CHSLD Idola St. Jean on Cartier Blvd. in Pont-Viau have been doing double-duty over the weekend, as they have tried to contain an outbreak of COVID-19 on one of the floors at the long term care residence.
According to information posted by the CISSS de Laval on Sept. 26, 11 patients and seven workers had tested positive.
Since last Monday, the residence administration created a “hot zone” for confirmed cases, as well as for staff who tested positive or who showed symptoms and were sent home.
The outbreak is said to have happened startlingly quickly. All visitors to CHSLD Idola St. Jean since Sept. 7 are being contacted and are being advised to get themselves tested.
Since the beginning of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring, CISSS de Laval has changed some of its practices. Among other things, staff are no longer working at more than one residence or facility in order to limit the spread of the virus.
Still, shortages of medical and support staff are said to still be hampering efforts as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic gets underway.
In Laval, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases rose by 50 from Friday to Saturday, for a total of 6,881 cases on the island as of Saturday. To date, there have been 683 deaths from COVID-19 in Laval since the start of the pandemic.
