OTTAWA -- With a subject line marked “Urgent Notice,” family members of residents at the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre were informed by email that a staff member at the facility had tested positive for COVID-19.
It reads “the staff member was wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment and practicing proper hand hygiene…to date there is no evidence that the virus has passed to co-workers or residents.”
The individual was last at work on Tuesday and is currently isolating at home with mild symptoms, according to the message electronically signed by CEO, Akos Hoffer.
Administrators say the individual worked on the unit identified as “Ottawa 1 East.”
In a public notice on the health centre’s website the facility writes:
In addition, all staff who worked in close contact with the individual on Ottawa 1 East between April 13 and April 14 have been:
- Ordered to undergo immediate testing at Ottawa Public Health’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre;
- Directed to stay home if a positive COVID-19 test is received; and
- Placed on paid leave.
A number of additional measures have been implemented to ensure the health and safety of our residents and staff. The province has now made mandatory the single-employer protocol which we initiated on April 14th.
