Brigham and Women’s Hospital plans to retest all patients for COVID-19 in response to a growing number of confirmed cases associated with the facility.As of Friday, hospital officials said 19 employees and 9 patients had tested positive for the virus. Another 600 individuals linked to the cluster are in the process of being tested. In addition to undertaking the testing of all patients, officials said the hospital will offer free, voluntary testing for all employees who have been working on campus since Sept. 14. A source told WCVB that hospital leadership was asked to consider barring visitors from the facility, but that measure was not enacted by hospital officials Friday. Hospital officials said that no definitive source of the outbreak had been identified, but several potential contributing factors were possible. Those included patients having unmasked interaction with staff, inconsistent use of eye protection, a patient who underwent an aerosol generating procedure, a staff member who reported to work despite symptoms consistent with their seasonal allergies and a lack of physical distancing among staff while eating.”Our Infection Control team has investigated the source of the cluster through intensive contact tracing, testing, and staff interviews,” hospital officials wrote. “Based on the information that we currently have our Infection Control team is unable to determine whether the source of the cluster was a staff member or patient.” As a result of the investigation, hospital officials said one floor of Braunwald Tower was closed for a full cleaning, including the HVAC system. Another remains open but affected patients were relocated to a COVID-19 unit.”It is important to note that our Infection Control team believes that the cluster has been contained to two specific inpatient units,” officials said. “This cluster is not impacting any other areas of the hospital or our outpatient clinics.”
BOSTON —
Brigham and Women’s Hospital plans to retest all patients for COVID-19 in response to a growing number of confirmed cases associated with the facility.
As of Friday, hospital officials said 19 employees and 9 patients had tested positive for the virus. Another 600 individuals linked to the cluster are in the process of being tested.
In addition to undertaking the testing of all patients, officials said the hospital will offer free, voluntary testing for all employees who have been working on campus since Sept. 14.
A source told WCVB that hospital leadership was asked to consider barring visitors from the facility, but that measure was not enacted by hospital officials Friday.
Hospital officials said that no definitive source of the outbreak had been identified, but several potential contributing factors were possible. Those included patients having unmasked interaction with staff, inconsistent use of eye protection, a patient who underwent an aerosol generating procedure, a staff member who reported to work despite symptoms consistent with their seasonal allergies and a lack of physical distancing among staff while eating.
“Our Infection Control team has investigated the source of the cluster through intensive contact tracing, testing, and staff interviews,” hospital officials wrote. “Based on the information that we currently have our Infection Control team is unable to determine whether the source of the cluster was a staff member or patient.”
As a result of the investigation, hospital officials said one floor of Braunwald Tower was closed for a full cleaning, including the HVAC system. Another remains open but affected patients were relocated to a COVID-19 unit.
“It is important to note that our Infection Control team believes that the cluster has been contained to two specific inpatient units,” officials said. “This cluster is not impacting any other areas of the hospital or our outpatient clinics.”