A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at Langley Memorial Hospital by Fraser Health.
The outbreak was on the health authority’s list of current outbreaks as of Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Dr. Victoria Lee, Fraser Health’s president and CEO, and Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin, Fraser Health’s interim chief medical health officer, told an afternoon media briefing that one patient tested positive for the coronavirus after they were discharged from the general surgical unit at the hospital.
“After his discharge [from LMH], his family noticed some symptoms,” Brodkin explained.
After testing positive, the patient has self-isolated at home and the unit has been closed to new patients, but the rest of the hospital remains open.
Lee said measures have been taken to prevent possible transmission of the virus from the unit.
All staff and patients who were in the unit at the time are being tested and contact tracing is being carried out.
Brodkin was unable to provide an estimate of how many staff and patients might have potentially been exposed.
Asked why an outbreak was declared when just one person was involved, Brodkin said whether it involves one person or many, “an outbreak is an outbreak” and is treated the same.
She added every hospital in Fraser health has dealt with “significant” numbers of COVID-19 cases.
Some outbreaks in other facilities have consisted of just one patient or staff member, while others have infected dozens.
The main hospital had avoided cases of COVID-19 before this.
In June, the Maple Hill long-term care facility had a small outbreak after a patient was transferred there from a Mission hospital.
READ MORE: Langley Lodge outbreak is over
In May and June, a deadly outbreak at Langley Lodge seniors facility killed 24 residents and sickened 27 more, along with a number of staff.
That outbreak was declared over in early July.
