Northern Health Medical Health Officers have declared a COVID-19 outbreak on the Internal Medicine Unit (IMU) at University Hospital of Northern BC in Prince George, following lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Seven patients have tested positive for COVID-19 in association with the Internal Medicine Unit (IMU). Northern Health Public Health is closely monitoring for additional cases, and the facility is taking steps to protect the health of staff and those they care for, with enhanced outbreak control measures such as (but not limited to):
- Increased frequency of cleaning and infection control measures
- Enhanced symptom monitoring among all UHNBC staff and patients
- Limiting movement of staff and patient between care areas of the hospital
- Restricting the unit to essential visitors only
At this time, the IMU outbreak is not considered to be related to an outbreak declared September 25, 2021 on the Primary Care Medical Unit (PCMU). To date, 20 patients and seven staff have tested positive in association with the PCMU outbreak. 16 of the outbreak-associated cases remain active.
Public health officials will be monitoring the situation carefully over coming weeks and will only declare the outbreak over when they are confident that chains of transmission have been stopped.
View more information on public exposures, school exposures, and facility or community outbreaks of COVID-19 within the Northern Health region.