Outbreak declared in the HRV transitional care unit at IOOF Seniors Home

A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared in a unit at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Center (HRV) of the IOOF home for the elderly in Barrie.

Twelve patients and five staff have tested positive in the Brooks Street complex’s short-term transitional care unit.

Positive patients were either transferred to the RVH Respiratory Hospitalization Unit or to isolation rooms at IOOF.

According to Barrie Hospital, all remaining HRV IOOF patients are on Enhanced Droplet / Contact Precautions and are closely monitored and tested frequently.

RVH officials say the outbreak is contained in its 27-bed unit, which is separate from the rest of the IOOF facility and has its own entrance. No patient outside the unit is affected and the unit is currently closed to visitors, admissions and transfers.

“The health and safety of staff, physicians, patients and our community remains our top priority and we work closely with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and our Infection Prevention and Control and occupational health and wellness to conduct a full contact tracing investigation to determine any risk to other patients and (staff) RVH on the unit, ”said Janice Skot, President and CEO of RVH, in a press release issued Wednesday afternoon.

Anyone who has attended the IOOF facility or the main RVH campus and tested positive for COVID within five days of their visit is urged to call 705-728-9090, ext. 44555.

In a previous outbreak of RVH even on Georgian Drive, declared on October 29 in the hospital’s transitional care unit, 11 patients and two staff were infected with COVID-19, resulting in four patient deaths linked to the epidemic. This the epidemic ended on November 19.

As of December 21, RVH return to stricter visitor restrictions to contain the highly transmissible variant of omicron and protect patients, visitors and healthcare teams.