Some ventilation upgrades at B.C. hospitals as health minister addresses COVID-19 outbreaks
The minister of health and his staff have provided some new information on B.C.'s response to COVID-19 outbreaks in hospitals, but many of the details remain hazy, including how many hospitals saw improved ventilation as a result.
Since the start of the pandemic, at least 1,619 people likely caught COVID-19 in the province's hospitals, and at least 274 of them died. The provincial health officer insisted there are fewer outbreaks now due to vaccinations, but also improvements in ventilation systems.
There is growing discussion about the airborne nature of some COVID-19 infections, with Dr. Theresa Tam recently describing aerosol particles drifting like second-hand smoke. But while B.C. has invested in some ventilation upgrades for hospitals, officials say not all of them are due to the pandemic, and the health minister was reluctant to use the word “airborne” in discussing COVID-19 transmission Monday.
"There've been significant upgrades in ventilation (in hospitals) in all six health authorities throughout the province," said Adrian Dix. “The focus has been more in some of our older hospitals, for obvious reasons. The others are built to a higher standard of ventilation and so all of that work has been happening, much of it since the beginning of the pandemic but even before then."
The Ministry of Health provided CTV News with a summary of some of the ventilation measures, pointing out that Lions Gate Hospital, where 147 people got sick with COVID-19 and 18 died in three separate outbreaks, had $226,000 in ventilation upgrades to the ICU and COVID-19 wards, among other areas.
Richmond Hospital racked up $2.1 million in costs responding to COVID-19, which included "a number of interventions such as installation of hoarding, infection prevention and control practices (i.e., enhanced housekeeping), among others." About $397,000 of that was spent on HVAC and ventilation measures.
Island Health insisted its hospitals already have "100 per cent outdoor units that provide adequate ventilation," and while Northern Health, Interior Health and Providence Health Care improved or installed ventilation systems and negative pressure rooms, Fraser Health provided almost no information about what it did.
“Most Fraser Health acute sites meet the necessary standards, and the health authority has implemented temporary measures across acute care sites as needed,” wrote a ministry spokesperson, explaining 200 portable air purifiers were deployed across B.C.’s largest health authority.
But some of the hospitals in that area are older, and as Fraser Health fights to conceal reports about what led to outbreaks and what was done in response, the issue of how much airborne spread of the virus could’ve contributed is an open question. At Surrey Memorial Hospital alone, there have been 15 outbreaks, with 147 people likely catching the virus there and 18 of them dying.
CTV News has been trying to speak with health authority doctors responsible for overseeing outbreak response in Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health, but they have not been authorized to speak and the health minister addressed the issue of nosocomial (hospital) transmission in broad strokes instead.
“I give interviews seven days a week,” insisted Dix. “When you have hospitals that are treating people, including people with COVID-19, especially in the pre-vaccination period there was significant outbreaks in our hospitals."
Watch the entire interview with CTV News Vancouver's Penny Daflos and B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Still so much love between us,' Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Pro-plastic lobbyist presence at UN talks is 'troubling,' say advocates
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Trump's lawyers grill ex-tabloid publisher as 1st week of hush money trial testimony nears a close
After prosecutors' lead witness painted a tawdry portrait of “catch-and-kill” tabloid schemes, defence lawyers in Donald Trump's criminal trial on Friday sought to dig into an account of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.