Skip to content

SickKids COVID-19 outbreak infects teen patient's parents, clinical team member

rjb12060465

Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children says it now has two patients with unrelated cases of COVID-19 — and one of them is linked to an outbreak that infected their parents and a member of the clinical team.

SickKids says the outbreak involves a teenage patient who was in an inpatient unit specializing in hematology/oncology.

They say all patients on the affected unit have tested negative for COVID-19 and that everyone who has been exposed or suspected to have been exposed has been notified.

The other case involves a patient who tested positive Tuesday morning, after arriving Monday.

Both patients were being cared for in a unit with dedicated procedures and processes developed for COVID-19 cases.

SickKids says it is investigating how the virus was transmitted, along with Toronto Public Health.

"While this is certainly not the kind of news we want to be sharing, the fact is we have been fortunate at SickKids thus far – these are our first positive inpatient cases since the pandemic started over six weeks ago," Dr. Ronald Cohn, president and CEO of SickKids, said Tuesday in a release.

"I have full and absolute confidence in our teams here at SickKids and in our ability to continue to provide the best possible care, while protecting the safety of our patients, families and staff."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2020

The Canadian Press


Looking for Ontario News?

VillageReport.ca viewed on a mobile phone

Check out Village Report - the news that matters most to Canada, updated throughout the day.  Or, subscribe to Village Report's free daily newsletter: a compilation of the news you need to know, sent to your inbox at 6AM.

Subscribe