MONTREAL -- Concerns about the spread of COVID-19 have prompted staff from Montreal’s Notre-Dame Hospital to stay home after they came into contact with a patient who had the virus.
The patient, one of eight confirmed cases in Quebec, came to the hospital on March 9, according to a spokesperson for the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal. Staff there tested her for influenza and then coronavirus.
When the COVID-19 test came back positive, she was transferred to the Jewish General Hospital.
But now, fewer than 10 staff members who came into contact with her have been asked to stay home, with pay, for two weeks, the spokesperson said. The move is precautionary to ensure they haven’t contracted the virus and don’t contribute to its spread.
Health officials stress that hand-washing and other hygienic behaviour can stem the virus' spread. Still, many institutions are erring on the side of caution: students returning to Montreal from virus hotspots abroad have been asked to stay home, and at least one Montreal-area school has cancelled some classes while a student is tested for the virus.
COVID-19 is a virus whose origin has been traced to a market in Wuhan, China. It has infected over 125,000 people worldwide and killed almost 5,000.
