THUNDER BAY – Officials from the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre held a media conference on Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM.
The TBRHSC has put its pandemic plan into operation.
The TBRHSC has had 12 tests performed on patients, eleven of those have come back negative and medical staff are awaiting results from the twelveth test.
Persons suspecting or concerned that they may have contacted COVID-19 are being asked to call the Thunder Bay District Health Unit at (807) 625-5900 or toll free at 1-866-294-6630, or Telehealth toll free at 1-888-294-6630. More information is also available at www.tbdhu.com/coronavirus or https://files.ontario.ca/moh-coronavirus-info-sheet-english-2020-02-18.pdf .
Included in the plan is restricting access to the hospital, and at the south entrance at the Emergency Ward, there is a pre-screening trailer being set up. This is to allow a patient who suspects they might have COVID-19 to be screened before entering the facility.
Screening involves answering questions related to COVID-19 symptoms, as well as recent travel. All people will be screened before being allowed in.
In order to effectively manage screening, entrances will be designated as follows:
Four entrances will be available during daytime hours between 06:00 and 20:00
- West main entrance: accessible to all;
- East cafeteria: accessible to staff, specified learners and contractors only. Patients or care partners will be directed to other entrances;
- Emergency Department (ED): accessible to ED staff and ED patients/care partners only. All others will be directed to other entrances;
- Labour and Delivery (L&D): accessible to staff and L&D patients/care partners only. All others will be directed to other entrances.
- Two entrances will be available during overnight hours between 20:00 and 06:00:
- Emergency Department: accessible to all;
- Labour & Delivery: for staff and L&D patients/care partners only. All others will be directed to the ED entrance.
Officials state that they have prepared for this type of incident for years.
There have been concerns raised on the number of test kits for COVID-19, but in response to a question from NetNewsLedger there are 900 test kits available.
