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Visitors restricted at hospital in B.C. Interior dealing with 3 simultaneous COVID-19 outbreaks

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Three different units at a hospital in Kamloops are now dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks, and visits to the facility have been restricted.

Royal Inland Hospital has outbreaks of the coronavirus in Unit 5S, Unit 7N and Unit 6S, according to Interior Health's active outbreaks website

In an email to CTV News Vancouver, Interior Health said there are five cases associated with the new outbreak, all of them patients at the hospital.

The health authority also corrected the number of cases associated with the outbreak at Unit 5S, reducing it to 25 from the 26 it had reported on Wednesday.

The outbreak in Unit 5S was declared on Nov. 2. Nineteen of those who have tested positive at the unit are patients, and there is one death connected to the outbreak, according to Interior Health.

The outbreak in Unit 7N was declared on Nov. 8. As of Thursday, it had four cases - all patients - associated with it.

Asked how the three outbreaks began and whether they are related, the health authority told CTV News it is currently treating each outbreak as a separate incident.

"We are continuing to investigate multiple hypotheses as to how the outbreaks originated and whether or not they are related," Interior Health said.

On Wednesday, Interior Health announced restrictions on visitors to Royal Inland "due to COVID-19 activity at the facility." 

"Effective immediately, only essential visitors will be able to attend the site," the health authority said in a news release.

According to Interior Health, essential visitors are those visiting for end-of-life care; to see patients in the emergency department or intensive care unit; for pediatric care, labour and delivery; or to provide necessary support to a patient's physical care, mental well-being or decision-making.

Despite the prohibition on non-essential visitors, the health authority encouraged people to use the hospital as they normally would.

"All services continue to be available at Royal Inland Hospital and the hospital remains safe to visit for anyone needing emergency care," Interior Health said. 

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